August 11, 2009 Xbox LIVE Update truly cranks it up a notch – with features that improve your entertainment experience and give you new ways to express your individuality and connect with friends. With this update, you can download full Xbox 360® games and play them without a disc, and you and your friends will be able to party watch movies online through Netflix! Dress up your avatar to impress with premium props and branded apparel from fashion labels. And this update allows every piece of game content on Marketplace to be rated, so add your personal ratings and see what others think is cool. But that’s just the beginning. Check out all of the new features of the Xbox LIVE Update below.

Games on Demand

Enjoy the convenience of finding and buying new games right from the comfort of your own living room. Download a wide selection of full Xbox 360 games over Xbox LIVE. Games on Demand will be available for purchase on Xbox LIVE starting August 11 as part of the Xbox LIVE Update. You will be able to browse and purchase games through the Xbox LIVE Marketplace on the Web starting August 13.

Avatars

Avatars have seen lots of love! Check out the new Marketplace and Avatar Props. The Avatar Marketplace will be available on Xbox LIVE starting August 11 as part of the Xbox LIVE Update. You will be able to browse and purchase Avatar apparel through the Xbox LIVE Marketplace on the Web starting August 13.

Netflix

Now you can watch movies with your friends and find new movies to add to your Instant Queue without leaving your seat.

Party Watch – Catch a show with your friends! Bring your party into Netflix and watch a movie or TV show together

Parties

Everyone loves to Party! Check out the new and improved party reconnections and streamlined party invites.

Party Reconnections – If a user is disconnected from a party inadvertently, they will be automatically reconnected to the party without any user interaction.

Gold Member Veterans – Been here long? Show it off! Anyone looking at your gamer card will now know how long you’ve been an Xbox LIVE Gold member. And who knows, there might be other perks for you, too. Thanks for sticking around!

Many changes have gone into the account recovery process to speed it up and to increase reliability.

Video Display Options

Various improvements have been made to make it easier for you to see your game in the highest resolution possible when using an HDMI connection.

UI Improvements

Some parts of the dashboard have been slightly re-organized to make it easier to find the things you’re looking for.

Indie Games – We listened to our community and have decided to rename Xbox LIVE Community Games to Xbox LIVE Indie Games. This new name better represents the independent spirit of these titles. User ratings are also available for Indie Games, allowing you to share your rating for a game and use ratings from others to find great new games.

Achievement Browser – Launch a game directly from the Achievement browser making it even easier for you to max out your Gamerscore.

This fall, Xbox LIVE will see the addition of the following new features as well:

Facebook
Twitter
Last.fm
Zune Video

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If you loved the first BioShock as much as I did, you have been waiting… waiting… and… waiting for some sign that BioShock 2 wasn’t just vaporware, and now you have it thanks to GameTrailers. I, for one, am very excited! Look at how even more beautiful everything is, including the already stunning water effects. What do you think? Comment below!

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I had two people ask me the past week, “How do you pay for hosting for your website? It’s so expensive…” Seriously? Have these guys even shopped around? I looked around and found 10 great hosts for about $5 per month, pretty reasonable.

Pull your blog off Wordpress.org or Blogger and get your own server (and I don’t mean the sketchy one to the left)–it’s not as expensive as you think! Then you can tell people to go to http://www.kittenreviews.com, instead of http://www.wordpress.org/sites/longurl/snoore/kittenreviews! What you do with your own web space is your own business!

IXWebhosting and FatCow have the best deals, at about $3.95 and $5.50 respectively, for pretty much unlimited everything, including MySQL which is used by Wordpress and most other blogging software.

Given the choice, I think IXWebHosting is the solid choice due to their stellar tech support record, price, and near 0% down time, but I think FatCow is just about equal and also great.

Go to www.deathcarrot.com/webhosting, or click on the tab above to see my top 10.

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The awesome guys over at ThinkGeek.com sent me some gadgets to support my Stolen iPhone Cause and I’m giving them all away to you guys for being so awesome! =D.

Up for grabs this week is a super cool Griffin AirCurve iPhone Acoustic Amplifier: The AirCurve looks like a simple, elegantly minimal stand for your iPhone. But inside is a coiled waveguide “horn” that collects the sound from the built-in speaker of your iPhone, amplifies it (by about 10 decibels), and projects it into the room. While the AirCurve won’t power your iPhone, but the built-in pass-through slot can feed a dock cable through the bottom and charge from your computer.      * Acoustically amplifies your iPhone      * Custom-engineered waveguide requires no power      * Allows syncing/charging using Griffin Dock Cable or         the charge/sync cable that came with your iPhone      * Works with original iPhone or iPhone 3G      * No batteries required $17.99 over at ThinkGeek.com

Read more…

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An anonymous tipster hooked us up with some alleged details regarding the rumored Army of Two sequel. Our source is confident that the sequel will be titled Army of Two: The 40th Day, but we won’t know for sure until March 12. Still, there’s plenty of solid evidence piling up. We’ve built our case after the break.

So, here are the highlights of the supposed game info:

* The game takes place in Shanghai, where a network of PMCs are looking to take over, under the rule of a leader with a hidden purpose * Rios and Salem are back, however they’ve been reluctantly dragged into the conflict and don’t have the full story * The game will feature moral decisions, a deeper weapons customization system, multiple endings, and even a few followers * Multiplayer will be outsourced yet again * On the technical side: The 40th Day adds Beast lighting and Fracture, as well as an improved networking system * Environmental interaction: some weapons will be capable of tearing through thin walls and obstacles in the game; and new AI scripts will improve your partner’s realism (e.g., peeking through windows, taking out enemies silently, etc.) * EA will be tossing civilians into the mix, which you can use as meat human shields

Our tipster also provides us with alleged details of the game’s first levels:

* 1st map is the introduction (duh) * 2nd map is the invasion; with Rios and Salem escaping from a crumbling building * 3rd map takes place in a zoo * 4th map takes Rios and Salem to a hospital

Still unconfirmed: How EA plans to execute fist-bumping 2.0. [via Joystick]

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As I type this, I am going 70 MPH down I-85 in South Carolina… mind you, I am a passenger, but still it is quite a rush. How is this possible you might ask? Well, without too much “technobabble”, it is called “tethering” and it’s simpler than you might think!

Before you start, make sure you back up everything on your iPhone in iTunes, also, while the chances of this messing up anything permanently are pretty low, remember, I’m not responsible if you mess up your phone. READ EVERYTHING TWICE!

     1. Head over to the Dev-Team Blog and download the latest version of PwnageTool, I downloaded 2.2.5 for my Mac. Make sure you are updated to iPhone version 2.2.1 via iTunes before you try to jailbreak. Once you have it downloaded, fire it up and choose which iPhone version you have 2G or 3G (or iPod Touch if you want to jailbreak it) and follow the steps, it is pretty straight forward. You will be asked to power your iPhone off and hold certain buttons, once that is finished, you are ready to restore in iTunes.

     2. iTunes should recognize your iPhone in recovery mode and offer to let you restore the firmware. What you need to do on a Mac is hold down the ALT/Option key then when you click the restore firmware button, you’ll get to select the file that was created by PwnageTool, it should be on your desktop. Mine was called: iPhone1,2_2.2.1_5H11_Custom_Restore.ipsw, yours may be different.

     3. iTunes will then offer to restore your iPhone with the back up you made earlier and copy all your apps, songs, and movies back onto your iPhone. Go take a little break, this sometimes takes a while.

     4. Once your phone is done syncing, look through your apps on your iPhone and you will see Cydia. Open it. Click Developer (no filtering), and then search for PDANet, click on it and the then click install on the top right. Once installed, move back over to your computer, click on wireless network settings and then create network. Name it whatever you want. I named mine iPhone.

     5. Go back you your iPhone go into settings and join the network you created on your laptop and then open PDANet and you should be online at blazing 3G speeds!

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Just a friendly reminder: Tethering is against AT&T terms of service, but I’ve never had any problems. Stick to internet browsing, data is data… still… no torrents or hulu just to be safe

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Capcom has officially confirmed one of the more exciting features found in Lost Planet 2’s announcement trailer: “The intense and action packed campaign mode comes with the ability to form teams of up to 4 players online to clear mission objectives with friends.” Based on the initial gameplay footage, said mission objectives generally involve coordinated mech maneuvers and wanton destruction of the titular planet’s more unfriendly creatures.

The press release also provides a general outline of the story, which takes place 10 years after the amnesia-riddled and ironically forgettable exploits of Lost Planet’s Wayne Holden. Players will now take control of several customizable snow pirates “as plot threads evolve from various perspectives.”

Capcom promises to deliver more information on Lost Planet 2 over the coming months. At this time, the game has only been confirmed to be in development for the Xbox 360.

I hope they include a “really, really easy mode” because holy crap, was it not the hardest game ever? Still though, I am so excited! [via Joystick]

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Microsoft has released pictures of the Exclusive Red Xbox 360 Resident Evil Limited Edition Console, which was confirmed earlier tonight and mentioned officially by Microsoft earlier this month.

The Xbox 360 Elite console is bundled with a red wireless controller, black Xbox 360 headset, 120GB hard drive, via-LIVE-downloadable-Resident-Evil-theme, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and a copy of Resident Evil 5. All this is priced at US$399. Check back, I’ll update you when you can pre-order. [via Kotaku]

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Debates are raging as to what the future of movie distribution will look like. There are those who claim that physical discs like DVDs, Blu-ray, and whatever format will eventually supplant Blu-ray will always deliver a superior viewing experience versus anything that will be available via streaming. Pundits on the other side of the debate, say that as broadband’s footprint continues to expand and quality is improving.

Interestingly, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is siding firmly with the latter camp and it would even appear that Netflix is gearing up to move all of its eggs from the mail-distribution basket to the online streaming basket. Hastings indicated that perhaps as soon as later this year or sometime in 2010, Netflix might start offering online-streaming-only subscription plans beyond just its current Starz plan.

I am super excited that they are even considering this move, because 90% of my Netflix experience is via my Xbox 360. Streaming is one of the best things Netflix ever did, keeping me occupied while I have to wait for the snail mail to come! [via Slashdot]

Try Netflix streaming to your Xbox 360 for 2 weeks completely FREE
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Man, look at that footage, the in game play portions look pretty impressive! I am totally stoked!

Resident Evil 5, is the forthcoming installment in the Resident Evil survival horror video game series, which is set to debut for PlayStation 3 and, for the first time in the series, on Xbox 360. RE5 is scheduled for release on March 13, 2009 in North America and Europe.
Help me out, pre-order at Amazon =)

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