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An official forum Xbox LIVE Help has been launched.

An official forum for the Xbox LIVE Community Games has been launched.

November 19 marks the day the Xbox 360 video game console will get its first dashboard make-over. Let's hope it will not turn into "the day the Xbox stood still". The fall 2008 update took much longer than expected - the previously announced 24hours downtime turned into several days of limited and even no service at all for some areas.

You might want to backup as much as possible to memory units; one can never play safe enough.

I would recommend to everyone - no matter the size of the drive - to go into the Xbox 360 memory management from time to time and clean it up. So much rubbish accumulates over time from demo game saves to no longer used downloads, long forgotten videos and more. Not to mention you could outsource your entire music collection onto a USB memory stick.

Those who know me also know my "love" for Microsoft Hong Kong. I haven't seen them getting anything right so far, no matter what part of the industry. I'm usually roaming the Xbox field and so my latest example relates to a gift redemption registration form.

Q: What is wrong with the question above, taken from "Fable 2 Game Pre-Order Privilege - Registration for Gift Redemption" form? (And yes, they do put up the form in images, not pure text)
A: While the Chinese question refers to the correct game title "Fable 2", the English line aparently was forgotten by their translator and still refers to a previous "Too Human" game formular. 

By the way, if anyone needs a cheap Office 2007 Home/Student Edition with 3 licenses, they are now on sale for around 800HKD only; but that's another story.

A national survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that while young Americans don't necessarily play the same thing, nearly all of them - girls included - play video games of one kind or another. Nearly 2/3 play video games to socialize face-to-face with friends and family, while just over 1/4 said they play with Internet friends.

• 97% of the young respondents play video games. That's 99% of boys and 94% of girls.
• 7% didn't have a computer at home.
• 80% play 5 or more different game genres, with racing, puzzles, sports and action the most common.
  Favorites were Guitar Hero, Halo 3, Madden NFL, Solitaire and Dance Dance Revolution.
• Half of the boys and& 14% of the girls listed a game with an "M" or "AO" rating as one of their favorites.

Get the full report.

Inside Xbox - a kind of news station within the Live blade in the Xbox 360 console and currently available only in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Japan - got their own forum "Inside Xbox" as part of the official Xbox Forums.

MyGamerCard.net today ranks me as 1 (+59,460) of 59,461 in Quake2 

The fall 2008 update for the Xbox 360 will not "update" but entirely change the dashboard:

"A new Xbox experience that will reinvent home entertainment from the inside out, changing the way we play games, watch movies and TV shows, and even become contestants in game shows. It all begins this fall with a bold new look and feel that is fun, social and simple to use."

Another major news is the partnership with Netflix - a movie rental service - giving Xbox 360 users instant access to more than 10,000 feature films and television shows with a click of a button.

Meeting global gamers' complaints at least partially, another new feature, Xbox Live Primetime, will provide content to non-US gamers as well:

"TV shows and movies from world leaders in entertainment including NBC Universal, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, SCI FI Channel and USA Network domestically and Constantin and MGM internationally."

Feature highlights for the new Xbox experience:

• Entertainment without limits.
  With Live Party, bring your favorite games, TV shows, movies and pictures to life by sharing those experiences with friends, wherever they are around the world.
• Express yourself.
  With the new Xbox 360 experience, gamers can personalize their entertainment like never before. They can create their own avatar, designed exclusively by Rare Ltd., and jump into a party with friends from around the world.
• "Must See TV" and more.
  The biggest names in entertainment worldwide, such as Netflix, NBC Universal, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, SCI FI Channel, USA Network, Constantin and MGM are bringing their content to Xbox 360 on Xbox Live Primetime.

(Read the full press release)

The US is releasing a new version of the Xbox 360 which will triple the existing 20GB hard drive to 60GB but keep the same price. 20GB consoles will be sold out at a discount while stock lasts. No words yet about console upgrades on Asian sites but it shouldn't take long for the upgraded version to arrive.