Gadgets and Video Games

A few people have emailed me regarding something Steve Ballmer said earlier today about a new Xbox coming in 2010. As the Xbox team stated at E3 two weeks ago, we are not even halfway through the current console generation lifecycle and believe Xbox 360 will be the entertainment center in the home for long into the next decade.

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With the announcement last week of Last.fm for Xbox 360, we couldn’t help but wonder if Pandora was going to show up to the party. The other radio program of the tubes has become an internet darling, but first we wanted to find out if Pandora was even interested in getting it on with our console, like it already does with our computers, mobile devices and other home electronics. “We’d love to include game consoles like the Xbox 360 as part of this story at Pandora,” Jessica Steel, SVP of Business Development at Pandora told Joystiq.

Excerpt from:
Pandora would ‘love’ to be included on Xbox 360

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Rock Band 2 Full Song List

Rock Band 2 comes with over 80 songs (or sets / tracks) preloaded. Additional songs can be purchased and will be available in the Rock Band 2 downloads area within Xbox Live Marketplace. The list below represents songs that are on the disc. The second, smaller list represents songs that are on the disc but must be unlocked in some fashion. (continue reading…)

Trying to break into the video game industry? If you are a gamer my advice is get involved with the Microsoft Playtest group. You will be helping your gaming future by attending the Playtest group and your fellow gamers. It may not be exactly the future you hoped for, but it can help you gain contacts within the industry.

 You may be periodically contacted my Microsoft to participate in a test. When Microsoft contacts you, you are asked a series of question to see if you qualify for the upcoming study or test. Based on your answers you may or may not be selected for the particular test. (continue reading…)

Headsets for Xbox Live are a dime a dozen these days, so is it worth it to spend the extra cash on a third party headset? We recently took a closer look at Plantronics’ Gamecom headset lineup (the Gamecom X10, X20, and X30) and found that it boils down to personal preference, style, and sound quality. Here is what we determined about the three headsets within this lineup: (continue reading…)

I’ve always been a big fan of the Need For Speed series of video games, so when I was in New York a couple of weeks ago I jumped at the opportunity to interview Mike Mann, Senior Producer for Need For Speed ProStreet. Now, unfortunately there were a couple of questions that weren’t answered, but it seems Mike did a good job at clearing up most of my concerns. Read the full NFS ProStreet interview at Xbox Solution.