The holidays have not been kind to me, or to this blog, and I apologize. Here are all the stories left lying around that aren’t going to get a full post:
Xbox 360: Over 17 Million Sold Microsoft announced that that through the end of November, it had sold 17.7 million Xbox 360s. With December being the biggest month of the year, that number is definitely over 18 million now, and possibly approaching 19 million. Pretty successful console.
Also announced: 8.1 million copies of Halo 3 sold. Almost 50% of all 360 owners have Halo 3, and the rest probably have Red Ring Of Death consoles.
Virtual Earth Adds KML Support
Virtual Earth, Microsoft’s technology that powers Windows Live Maps and Live Maps-based mashups, now supports KML files in the Virtual Earth Map Control. KML files are the files used by Google Earth/Google Maps for various map data and placemarks, so mashup creators can now use those KML files in their Live Maps mashups, freeing the data for use on both the Google and Microsoft platforms.
Office 2003 SP3 Disables Old File Formats
Service Pack 3 for Office 2003, released a few months ago, disables the opening of some files made by older versions of Office because they can create security risks. Specifically, it disables all files from Corel Draw, Lotus and Quattro, Excel 4.0, dBASE II files, Powerpoint files before PowerPoint 97, and Word files before Word 6.0 for Windows. You can still run them by putting them in a trusted folder, or re-enable them by running a registry file.
Nine New Games For Windows Titles Announced Microsoft announced at CES nine new games in its Games For Windows program, including the upcoming Lego Indiana Jones game (those Lego games are always fun), Train Simulator 2 (which we’ve discussed before) and a new Tomb Raider game. The full list:
Alone in the Dark (Atari)
Bionic Commando (Capcom)
Conflict: Denied Ops (Eidos Interactive)
Empire: Total War (SEGA)
LEGO Indiana Jones (LucasArts)
Microsoft Train Simulator 2 (Microsoft Game Studios)
Sins of a Solar Empire (Stardock)
Space Siege (SEGA)
Tomb Raider: Underworld (Eidos Interactive)
Windows Vista Only 39% Of OS Sales New data from Microsoft shows that Windows Vista shipped on on 39% of all PCs in 2007. Remove the one month Vista wasn’t available, January, plus the almost 10% of the market that goes to Macs, and you still have half of all PCs shipping with Windows XP, not Vista. Microsoft should have found a way to convince PC manufacturers to stop shipping Vista, but it didn’t, and couldn’t force them given the bad PR it’s had all year. Hopefully in 2008, with Service Pack 1 shipping, MS can stop providing XP to computer makers and only allow them to ship Vista.
Microsoft has gotten XNA Game Studio, its tool for creating games that run on both the PC and Xbox 360, out with the first beta of its version 2 release, showing the fast maturation of the platform only a year after the first version. New features include support for Visual Studio 2005, multiplayer games that use Xbox Live or System Link, among the usual refinements and enhancements. Users of the free XNA Studio Express can get the beta and run it side-by-side with the free 1.0 by following the instructions here.
Little Gamers, a popular seven-year running webcomic, has gotten an official game, and that game runs entirely on Microsoft’s XNA Framework. That means that the game will run on your PC, and with an XNA Creator’s Club subscription, the same version can run on an Xbox 360. A current build is available for download, a prototype was a finalist in the Dream, Build, Play! competition, and here’s a video of it in action:
The game is a 2D action sidescroller which borrows many gameplay elements from action games such as Metal Slugs and Madness Interactive and mixes them with the webcomic feel and humor of Little Gamers to create a unique cute but deadly combination.
During his travel all around the world, in 16 action-packed levels, Mr. Madsen, the main protagonist, will face many enemies like hippies, zombies, pirates and ninjas. Every weapon held by your opponents (and yes, that includes bosses) can be picked up and used to defend yourself; that includes more than 30 weapons available for the player throughout the game. Many power-ups will be available during his journey, ranging from beer to the deadliest flower ever known to humanity.
Gametap has details on Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Acceleration, the first expansion pack for the latest entry in Microsoft’s Flight Simulator series. Acceleration adds more mission-based play, including rescues, cargo delivery, dangerous landings, and even the legendary Vomit Comet. There are even some additions that go more towards fun and away from the game’s typical audience, including fighter jets, UFO interception missions (ripped off from the final scene of Independence Day), aircraft carrier landings, plus single- and multi-player races.
The goal of the expansion is to open Flight Simulator to a different audience. While core fans of the game come for the accurate and detailed simulation, the expansion brings it more into videogame territory in order to appeal to a more casual audience, and the results look great. Hardcore sim fans don’t need to worry about their simulation being overshadowed, and casual fans have a nice reason to pick it up.
Expect to see Acceleration in stores sometime this fall.
Sebastien St-Laurent says that Microsoft’s implemented some performance enhancements with this release, and that those who don’t buy the expansion pack will receive those updates for free as a service pack.
Also, looks like fans of the series are gathering on one of my posts from two months back, all showing support for Flight Simulator coming to the Xbox 360. Go there and join the discussion.
