I'm pretty sure that if you participate on any kind of Xbox 360 devoted forum or website having an online Gamercard to display is a prerequisite to earning credibility and respect. Without it, you're suspected of being a bad gamer, not owning that many Xbox 360 games, or worse: being Phil Harrison.
[Xbox Live Gamercard generator]
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Chinese government makes itself even easier target for jibes -- the Chinese government recently ordered that skeletons in World of WarCraft be removed and replaced with flesh-covered counterparts. They've also announced that bare-boned corpses of dead characters must be buried in graves rather than lying on the ground. Seriously.
The9 - the Chinese company responsible for running WoW in China - has already complied with these orders. Why have bones, of all things, been censored in World of WarCraft? To comply with Chinese president Hu Jintao's mandate of an "harmonious society," apparently. No idea how that works. It seems like the government has started censoring things just for the fun of it.
[Censorship reaches internet skeletons via Kotaku]
Fuzzy virtual pet owners start online rebellion -- On July 3rd a new feature arrived in NeoPets land: the NC Mall, which allows users to pay real world money for the game's virtual currency, Neocash.
According to those rebelling the mall breaks NeoPets' promise that the game will always remain free. Angry users have been calling up NeoPets HQ to complain, changing their avatars to "Bleh!" and bombarding many areas of the site with 'hate', 'causing displeasure' to NeoPets employees and also threatening to take 'more drastic action' if the Mall is not removed.
I always imagined the NeoPets user community to have a median age of 13 and be pretty sensitive all round. Either I was wrong, or 13 year olds these days are pretty intense. Their target? Viacom corporation, which owns Neopets.
Good luck guys.
[Neopets users rebel! via digg]
Product placement: usually annoying, not so much in this case -- astute cinemagoers might have noticed the Xbox 360 robot in the Transformers movie. It all probably has something to do with the fact that there is a Transformers game for the console, but hey, I like it when game consoles appear in movies. Especially when they grow robotic arms and attack people.
[Anyone see the Xbox 360 robot in Transformers? via Engadget]
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Via a number of sources comes the news that the price of the PS3 is going to drop from $599 to $499 on the 12th of July. I'm not sure how much a price drop from 'really expensive' to 'still really expensive, but less so' is going to change SONY's fortunes, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.
Just as SONY makes that concession comes the news that users who experience the 'red ring of death' on their Xbox 360 console will have their warranty extended to three years.
It's good to see both companies able to bow to public pressure, but is it a case of too little too late?
[Report: PS3 $499 on July 12 at GameDaily BIZ]
[Microsoft Expands Xbox 360 Warranty Coverage press release]
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Everyone is modding controllers lately. If there isn't a controller modding community called 'Control Freaks', well, there really should be.
The above pic shows a custom Xbox Street Fighter controller shell with buttons and joystick wired to the circuit board of an Xbox 360 controller. With it, you could be the coolest Street Fighter on Xbox Live.
Dreams of Street Fighter coolness aside, you probably won't/shouldn't try this one at home. I know I certainly don't own a custom Xbox Street Fighter controller, nor could I touch a circuit board without breaking it. That doesn't mean I can't admire the work of another - even if I don't understand it.
Note: I see an Xbox 360 stacked on top of other electronics. Naughty.
[Street Fighter Joystick for the Xbox 360 at AlfredChow.com]
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Via Gamerscore comes this list of Microsoft's E3 coverage over Xbox LIVE:
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If you're a Canadian resident and hooked into Xbox Live treat yourself to some free gamer pics and a theme to celebrate Canada Day. And yes, I don't think the bat and squirrel gamer pics are part of the Canada Day bonus. Unless... Microsoft, what are you trying to say about Canadians, exactly?
The freebies are only available for a limited time so get your patriotic self into it. And yes, the first one is clearly the best.
[Canada Day 2007 Themes and Gamerpics via Opposable Thumbs]
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From the short-lived Alcaron's Projects comes this moment of brilliance: detailed instructions on how to make your own dark controller for the Xbox 360.
What you need: Xbox 360 controller (wired or wireless), screwdriver (phillips head for a wired controller, or a security torx for a wireless controller), vinyl dye and latex gloves.
Cost: $5
Difficulty: You can probably imagine.
[Noir 360 - wireless controller instructions at Alcaron's Projects]
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The official Eternal Sonata website is live and bearing good news: the game is available for pre-order at EB Games/GameStop. The 'good' bit is that you receive one of the above Eternal Sonata faceplates with your pre-order. Not sure if you get to choose, but either way, that's a pretty neat bonus.
[via Kotaku]
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