LIVE on LIVE 29.5 Halloween Special - EA and the Market Place: a SCARY thought.

SPECIAL HALLOWEEN SHOW!
Our 5 regular gamers, just like you, include CHEMgurL, ArAcHnAdZ, Ricke6, SMOKE U FOOLS and GUI J.

Topics Included!

• EA or the gamer: Who dictates the marketplace?
• Gears of War Trailer: What’s so cool about it?
• Rainbow Six VEGAS: Better than GoW?
• Xbox Live SILVER Accounts “useless”: Says who?
• PS3 and Wii have web browsers: Will the 360 follow?
• What are the top 3 games this Holiday? Viva La Frenzy!
• AND whatever else the conversation brings up!

Here is the direct download link, (now working, thanks tssarrin)
Right Click here (and save as… for best download experience).

To subscribe to the podcast you can click on one of these…
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“Improved voice chat quality in Xbox Dashboard and in-game chats.”

We’ll be the judge of that.
Bring it on.
-Rust.

Leo Laporte: “I think the PS3 stands to be a huge bust.”

In a rare interview, Leo Laporte shares his thoughts about Sony’s major console release right around the corner.

Some might say, “Leo is no gaming expert”. Well, gaming is right up his alley as the subject does harmonize in the realm of technology. Leo Laporte is a Tech Guru, in fact–considered by many–The Tech Guru. With over 250,000 weekly downloads of TWiT and over several hundred thousand more downloads of his other tech publications to go along with his live radio show on KFI 640 AM in LA, Laporte knows what he’s talking about.Â

“Unless they come out with something really
good–some specatular, mind blowing, good
games that are just unique to the platform–
I think the PS3 may be a really big bust for Sony.”

Laporte knows his stuff. Has he been wrong about things? Not often. Will he be wrong about this one? November 17th is not the day we’ll find out.  Of course the PS3 is gonna sell out that day. But with the Xbox 360 having a year jump start and the Nintendo Wii launching two days later for less than half the price, perhaps there will be a new console king this generation.

“I don’t think Final Fantasy 72
or whatever it’s gonna be, is going
to be enough to make the PS3 a success.”

Back in August, XBL Radio sat down with Laporte for a frank, one hour discussion about technology, podcasting and gaming. If you missed that interview, you can find it on the XBL Extra Feed (also on iTunes). You can direct download the audio here (Right Click, Save As… for best download experience).

Xmas season begins for Gamers at Toys R Us…

This Sunday may be one of the best chances to insure your kids will have a Wii by Christmas. Little is known about how well the Nintendo launch will go. However, if we’ve learned one thing, from previous launches, there is almost always more demand than supply. So if a Wii system is desired in your household by years end, you may want to get to a Toys R Us, on Sunday October 29th, to grab a pre-order. I got my Xbox 360 from Toys R Us on their launch. I had no problem showing my voucher and walking out with the system.

*RUMOR ALERT:
The PS3 is also speculated to be pre-order available on the same day.

It seems like this may be a great time to get your Gamers Xmas list complete.

Good Luck!

Xbox & Your Kids - A chat with Molly O’Donnell

A couple of weeks ago Microsoft announced a bus tour that kicked off in New York and would travel around the US to 19 other cities. If you didn’t catch our story on it, or Xbox.com’s official artical, then continue reading for a brief rundown and the link to our interview.

Microsoft was doing this because they wanted to educate parents on some of the valuable tools that Microsoft has made available, on the Xbox 360 and the PC, that would help parents protect young kids. To me, this was a great idea! So I contacted MS to get some more info and they warmley accepted my invitation.  Now since I don’t have any children, I took it upon myself to do this for friends and listeners of XBL Radio who do have kids.

So I want to share with you the entire interview that I had with Molly O’Donnell from Microsoft. She’s the head of the Xbox Public Relations Group.  We talked about the Parental Controls for the Xbox 360 and the 20 City Campaign Buss Tour. I hope you find this 16 minute audio very informative like I did.

Download Here (right click, save as… for best download experience.)

BTW, ultimately I think that it is the parents responsibility to monitor what their kids are doing online. But, I think that it’s cool how Microsoft is providing parents with tools to help protect their kids along with information and education about how to do so.

And if you have any further questions about this or about protecting your children on Xbox Live, you can contact me at Steve@xblradio.com or check out Microsoft’s website set up for this http://www.xbox.com/isyourfamilyset/.

Gearing Up For WAR

Well 11/07/2006 is fast approaching. Soon Gears of War will be hitting the Xbox 360. Most stores are selling pre-orders for the new fps. At selected stores (I got my duds at Best-Buy) put 5 bucks down and receive a free T-Shirt. Look snazzy at all those Halloween Keggers!

XBL Radio Podcast Ver 29.0

The Halloween Edition:

• TECH NEWS: -The PS3s online service. Is pay to play the new Sony Standard? -HD DVD and BLUE RAY. Is it going to be large enough to fill the needs of gamers. -Neilson rates games. Seems like advertisers want to know what you watching and playing. -Special Interview. XBL Radio gives gamers a little Halloween treat to listeners.
• GAME NEWS: -A Virtual Baby. Bringing up baby online. Are virtual headaches included. -Luminous is officially LIVE. Is it worth a lifetime supply of Horse Armor. -EA officially stands for Exploiting Achievements: What’s next? Selling virtual steroids.
• Plus CONSOLE CRIMES and our XBL Radio POLL FEEDBACK.
• And a COOL Interview with “Xbox Dad”! Plus a surprise interview with Satan…

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Game Reviews:

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-Carpal reviews The Godfather: Will this be another Saints Row situation? Or does a PLOT make all the difference in a game. KID PIX: Cameron is locked and loaded as he gets ready for OPEN SEASON. I can assure you this one is truly for the kids.

Direct Download ver 29.0 by clicking here (right click, save as). Or you can check out the media player on the right of your screen, click play and it will automatically start with show 29.0. Or subscribe to our show! Click any of the following links below, and plug that link into your RSS Reader.

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The update about the update with E and Major.

If you check out Major Nelson’s recent podcast (#199) he has a special co-host, Xbox Operations Director, “E“. E was the head hancho in charge of the Xbox Live maintenance on Tuesday, 10-17. They discuss in detail about what happend that day as well as the following days. They explain why they needed more time and cleared up alot of the questions for those of us that demanded answers.

“I want all of our customers to understand that
everyone gave it their absolute all and at the
same time we realized that wasn’t good enough
and I promise you we’re gonna do better.”
-Xbox Operations Director, E

What features did we get out of all this mess? We can now redeem prepaid cards, add Microsoft Points and even access the parental controls right on the xbox.com website! Now how cool is that?

So are the new features worth the extra 2 hours passed the promised time and the bumpy 24 hours that followed? I think so. Did they promise they’ll never pass a deadline again? Of course not. Who would be bold enough to promise that? Did the apologies sound sincere? Yes. So we’ll have to wait for the next Xbox Live Shutdown to judge their performances. We are human (Yes, even Microsoft employees too). Depending on how old you are, you may know by now that not everything goes as planned and if it never fails, it never fails every time. Untill then, game on.

-Rust.

Microsoft quit teasing us!

Apperently Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 was put up on the Xbox Live Marketplace and then removed shortly after someone realized that it wasn’t supposed to be up there.Â

How can a mistake like this happen? How can a game that is not supposed to be out for another month get released “by mistake”? Is Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 not complete yet? Is that why the rest of us who were not at the right place, at the right time have to wait?

Before anyone gets defensive, I’m not demanding answers. But don’t tell me it’s not reasonable to wonder how an accident like this can happen.

Why “teasing” in the headline? Remember the Vision Cam getting released at Toys ‘R’ Us by “mistake” almost a whole month before the release date? Many of us had to wait 3 days after the official release date for our stores to have them in stock.

-Rust.

Order up! The future may be too connected…

Are you one of those gamers that hopes the the LIVE Marketplace adds a blade that will let you order take-out in the future? If so be careful what you wish for. Click the Pizza to see what you give up for convenience.