Luke Smith over at 1up recently sat down with Aaron Greenberg, Group Product Manager for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, and asked him some questions about XBLA. Greenberg had some interesting things to say. For one, he confirmed the release of Alien Homonid for this week. He also admitted that the last few weeks of XBLA hadn’t gone as planned, and went on to say that March would make up for it.

There was one horrible little sentence that I can’t get my head around:

“People shouldn’t expect anything different from Xbox Live Arcade going forward“

To say something like that in the same interview where you acknowledge the fact that you are aware of your customers feedback and complaints is like seeing a friend on fire, and letting them know that you see it happening, but you’ve got no intention of getting them some water. It’s common sense in the business world that if a product is meeting with negative feedback from consumers you need to make changes to said product.

It’s clear that there are problems with XBLA. Greg Canessa (group manager) and Ross Erickson (portfolio manager) have both jumped ship from the XBLA team recently, and seasoned developers like Team17 are frustrated by how many times their games are failing certification. Unhappy customers, employees that feel it’s time to move on, and angry developers are all clear signs of a greater problem.

Read the interview - it’s interesting

-MIKE KURZ

Can you power off and survive one day without your computer?

Shutdown day is asking computer users around the globe just that. This global experiment is currently poling people to find out just how many people can do it. Users that have answered if they can go a day without computer use share what they intend to do instead. The greatest question posed by the challenge is what will happen if everyone participates?

The countdown has begun, can you handle it?

-SARAH TOMESKY

The U.S. military is developing a new weapon that doesn’t kill…and our enemies must be thrilled.

The U.S. Army is currently working on a paralyzing spotlight that pushes out a 7.5 million candle powered beam of light. This strobing, xenon based light beam is intended to be aimed on a target causing some wicked hurting until the target faints. With such an innovation the military won’t need to have the guilt of blood on their hands, they’ll be too busy having to build more POW camps.

The Army intends to have demonstrations of this paralyzing spotlight within a year. Who doesn’t want to get taken down by a bright beam of light?

-SARAH TOMESKY

I really hate when Sony does something stupid. Why? Because when they do something stupid, I have to write about it, and later be accused of Sony bashing and Microsoft fanboyism by the rest of the internet. Despite the inevitable backlash, I will push on to bring you the latest news. It seems Sony still hasn’t given developers all of the information they require to implement online features in their games. Next-gen.biz is reporting that Bethesda is still lacking information needed to implement downloadable content, despite the fact that Oblivion is supposed to launch in a month. From the article:

The PlayStation 3 version of Oblivion is due for release next month, but the company has no finalized plans for online components. Spokesperson Pete Hines told trade weekly MCV, “We plan to support downloadable content on PS3, but we couldn’t tell you how or when it will be out, because it’s not clear how we’re going to do that yet.”

Sooooo…. does Sony not realize their console has launched? Maybe someone should fill them in on that.

-MIKE KURZ

Jessica Mintz (Associated Press) is reporting that Microsoft has been ordered to pay $1.5 billion to Alcatel-Lucent for violating two patents related to digital music. Alcatel-Lucent has filed a total of 15 patent claims against Microsoft, Dell, and Gateway. Some of the other patent disputes that remain undecided relate to speech coding, as well as video coding on the Xbox. Let’s hope this doesn’t have an impact on video playback on the 360 when all is said and done.

-MIKE KURZ

I’ve been saying it for a while now, and it seems that Sony agrees - downloadable content is the way of the future. It looks like they’re going to prove that statement with Warhawk. Formerly planned as a full retail game, 1up is reporting that Warhawk will be taking the form of a multiplayer only downloadable game. In the words of 1up’s Sam Kennedy:

“What I do know is that some interesting cuts choices have indeed been made in terms of its scope, and I’m curious to see how they’ll go over with people (myself included). What Warhawk has apparently evolved into is a multiplayer-only title featuring ground and air combat that’ll be downloadable from PSN.

It’s interesting, because I know a lot of people’s perception of the game will change once they hear it’s downloadable over PSN as opposed to being a full retail game. It shouldn’t. I believe this could actually become a great demonstration of what Sony has in store for us with downloadable games.“

If this truly is the direction Warhawk’s development takes, it would be a huge step towards a disc free world where heavily compressed games are downloaded onto large inexpensive hard drives. I can’t wait to see it in action.

[update 1] Sam Kennedy is reporting on his blog that Sony has not made any Final decisions on how the game will be distributed.  From his blog:

“But one thing I will update you on — because Sony has actually asked me to — is that they haven’t yet announced how the game will be available (whether it will be a retail game, a downloadable game, or perhaps some combination of the two).“

-MIKE KURZ

the FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes…. and now they need your help finding the hard drive they lost.  Apparently a portable hard drive similar to the one pictured went missing from the Birmingham AL VA medical center.  The drive contains personal information on at least half a million people.

What I want to know is how exactly does something like that go missing? “Well, Mike, What if someone stole it?” That doesn’t make me feel any better - an FBI agent should be able to outsmart the common pickpocket!

via engadget

-MIKE KURZ

I remember opening up my new Dreamcast on Christmas day. It was a wondrous experience - that little white box had been calling to me for months, and finally it was mine. Our love affair would not last long though. We had two glorious years together before Sega decided to discontinue the DC in 2001. Sure, some games came out for it late into ‘01, and into ‘02, but things just weren’t the same anymore. The magic was gone.

Love is in the air for many gamers once more in the form of the Nintendo Wii. Will this budding relationship stand the test of time, or are these starry eyed gamers setting themselves up to be heartbroken?

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If you live near a Starbucks and have that sweet sense of sharing, Fon can hook you up.

Those in WiFi range of a Starbucks are eligible for a free Fon router(Fonero). The Fonero allows you to share your internet connection with those willing to cough up $2. This doesn’t take much convincing when Starbucks and T-Mobile pry $10 from their customers for internet use. Once someone pays $2 for your connection Fon splits the profit, getting you $1 per user.

Feeling a bit nervous or greedy with your broadband? Fon offers you security with its private and public channels. The router comes with these two channels to keep your customers separate from you.

It seems like a simple and easy venture for those looking to make an extra buck, or have a good reason to point and laugh in the face of Starbucks.

-SARAH TOMESKY

All phallus jokes aside, this vacuum sounds extremely well designed and convenient. From the product page:

The moment you want to remove the dust, it is ready to use. Bringing out the cleaner from the storage, plugging it in, and putting together the hose are enough to discourage you to clean the room. The Metaphys cleaners are, therefor, designed to be ready to use at any time, not being the type to be stored, but to be placed near you in the room. A horce is an inevitable part of the cleaner, but it is bulky and often destroys the design, Considering these points, i.e., hose strong, design as an interior decor, and less time-consuming way before and after cleaning , the basic specifications vacuum, collapsable handke, cordless, and an extentionable hose.

The Metaphys Electric Uzu will cost you around $243. Hit the break to see how this vacuum unfolds into an awesome cleaning machine.

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