Video: Xbox 360 Content License Transfer Tool on Xbox.com

So I went ahead and did this last night, and it started off easy as can be and quickly turned into a WTF? moment. After doing all the computer-side stuff you’re instructed to download the new licenses to the console, which sounds easy except you need to choose each item individually and download it again to get the new DRM code. That’s fine if you have a few things but Xbox.com told me I consolidated 299 licenses! Awesome, now I suppose I’ll be downloading each of those again???

Also, I think it’s funny to hear the MSoft people keep using the example of people upgrading to the Elite as a reason to need this, completely glossing over the fact that it’s the Red-Ring-O-Death that screwed most (99.9%) of us over. But it’s a solution, so in the end it’s a good thing.

Click here to get started.

After our recent review of Buku Sudoku went up, we had the opportunity to sit down and speak with Buku developer Ben Moy. Hit the jump to hear him discuss his sudoku inspirations, the Microsoft de-listing debacle, what he’ll be working on next and a host of other topics.

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Do you sudoku? If so, you’ve probably been wondering why you’ve been stuck waiting so long for Microsoft to approve some version of the numbers game for you to get your grubby little mitts on. Fear not, fellow 9-square junkie — Buku Sudoku has come to the rescue!

Weighing in at 800 Microsoft points, Buku Sudoku offers a surprising number of twists and variations in gameplay over the standard 9-square solitaire you’ve come to know and love. Multiplayer, variations in puzzle size, and even optional peripheral support round out this package in an attempt to give you an adequate amount of bang for your buck. Before we delve to far into these features though, we should probably play a little catch-up for those not yet versed in the way of sudoku.

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Once upon a time there was an HD console named the Xbox 360 and everyone in Japan hated it. Well, practically everyone, except some developers like Capcom and Square-Enix, who loved the money that making Japanese games for the American otaku would bring.

And so it came to be, in the year of our lord 2008, that the Xbox 360 saw several JRPGs announced (and re-announced) for it, at Microsoft’ press conference in Japan: The Last Remnant, Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean 4, and Tales of Vesperia among them. IGN has a decent live-blog they ran of the event, and Joystiq also covered it…. but I gotta say, the most amusing coverage was from James Mielke’s blog at 1UP.

The Last Remnant seems to have some sort of timed exclusivity deal, with the 360 version coming out first. Vesperia and Star Ocean are probably 2009 titles, but the rest of them are due in the fall of this year, so if you need some JPRG love for your 360, September is your month.

It’s an interesting strategy by Microsoft, like a last-ditch attempt to woo some more Japanese gamers before the system slips under the waves forever. Or maybe these are in fact designed to appeal to western JRPG fans? Who knows, either way, the selection is great. It’s weird seeing the Microsoft console get all these RPGs before the PS3; most if not all of these games will land on PS3 at some point, but obviously MS is passing the green hat around to get a jump-start on the Sony versions.

Mistwalker was strangely absent from the event.

Not that anything out there still needs to squash those “MGS4 coming to Xbox 360″ rumors, but I think Kojima just did a real nice job of cementing that one in stone. This one definitely gave me a good chuckle.

Back in the “old days” of the first Xbox it was pretty simple to be able to use your Live gamertag on a friend’s console. All you had to do was throw it on a memory card and copy it to their hard drive. It could then live on both consoles without the need to swap it back and forth. I had my old Xbox Live account on three different consoles so I could play Return To Castle Wolfenstein or Halo 2 without a hitch. Now in these DRM-fueled times your gamertag is tied to a specific console and must be “recovered” when you want to play over Live (and not as a “guest) at a friend’s house or to make sure that you get points for the achievements you might unlock. This long process involves downloading from some magical server that can take upwards of 20 minutes to complete. I’ve often wondered why this takes so damn long when it seems like this should be a quick download. What’s in this file that takes up so much space? Is the server extremely slow or overrun with activity? My frustration with the process reached such a pitch that I actually decided to start looking into it to try finding an explanation or alternative methods. Continue Reading »

Many Bothans died to bring us this information. (We keep them in tiny boxes, and stab them individually as each headline comes in over RSS. It’s a “good luck” thing. Do not mock our customs!)

Sooooo, remember when Microsoft’s Steve “The Emballmer” Ballmer told us that the recently-retired HD-DVD add-on drive for 360 was no to be repeated, as it was never very successful and downloads are the future?

… nevermind. Tom’s Hardware has the scoop.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer had admitted that Microsoft had been working on support for Blu-ray under Windows during this year’s Mix08 conference. Rumors began to swirl and many began to expect Microsoft to announce a Blu-ray peripheral for the XBOX 360.

However, Microsoft came out and denied all rumors, stating that they were not exploring any kind of Blu-ray add-on or in talks with Sony about integrating Blu-ray into the XBOX experience. The software giant stated they would continue to invest in its XBOX Live online service as the means of high-definition content delivery. Toshiba received a crushing blow earlier this year at CES that Warner Brothers would be Blu-ray exclusive. This eventually led to Toshiba withdrawing from the HD format war and the demise of the XBOX 360’s HD-DVD add-on. It is interesting to note that sales of the XBOX 360 lagged behind Sony’s PS3 in the month of February, the same month Toshiba withdrew.

Looks like Microsoft just completely legitimized Sony’s high-def gamble. Oh well, I guess options are good, right?

Wait, what’s that? You don’t want another SKU? Too bad consumer! Suck it up. MS wants that stimulus cheque. Just make sure you bring a Venn diagram of configurations with you to Target.

(Edit – as per the comments, this is technically a rumour until Microsoft announces it.)