Microsoft is cleaning house once again by banning from Xbox Live those users who have modified their 360 consoles to play pirated games. According to Major Nelson the banning has been carried out to "keep game play safe and secure" for the 14 million community members, noting that any modification to an Xbox 360 is also a violation of the Xbox Live terms of use.
In Other News
Microsoft executive Shane Kim touted the New Xbox Experience coming next week as the company's attempt to broaden its reach and shift its Xbox Live online gaming service from a multiplayer matchmaking service to a broader entertainment social network. Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft's games group, gave the update on Saturday at the Play conference.
The ability to stream all Netflix "Watch Instantly" content to Xbox 360 gaming consoles over Xbox Live is set to be released to the public on November 19 when the new Xbox dashboard update comes out. A few lucky beta testers already have their hands on it, and the blog Zatz Not Funny grabbed a.
Over the Halloween weekend thousands of Xbox 360 gamers were able to cast an early, unofficial vote on Xbox Live for their candidate of choice.
Games are starting to catch up with movies in this respect: low-budget titles from indie studios have the same chance to succeed as blockbusters. And the indie game makers are about to make their biggest strides yet as Microsoft prepares to begin selling user-generated games on the Xbox 360 game console. The launch of the Xbox.
Thousands of new Xbox 360 Avatars will be created this week, as Microsoft will begin the New Xbox Experience Preview Program on a smaller public trial.
