The classic first person shooter made its debut in 1993 and was brought to you by id Software, and now according to a report on IT ProPortal is available on Xbox Live again. The original classic has been made available on the platform by those responsible for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Bethesda.

Users can get their hands on the game for their Xbox 360 console for 400 Microsoft points. The game was arguably the defining title of its genre that led to a variety of rip offs in the following years. This is not the first time Doom has been available on Xbox Live though, as back in 2006 it was put on the service by Activision.

But in 2009 id Software was the subject of a takeover by Zenimax who just happen to be the parent company of Bethesda. In 2010 the licensing deal with Activision had ran out so the game was removed from Xbox Live until now. The game could get itself a number of new fans this time round besides other gamers returning to enjoy it once more.

Where you a fan of Doom or is there another classic title you prefer?

OK, do not get too angry over this, but most of Xbox users have always been happy to pay for the online gaming service, and like all things there has to be a price increase. Whenever your cell phone company offers you more on your service plan you never get that for nothing, so why should Xbox Live be any different?

We already know that Microsoft is to give Xbox Live a makeover, making things much easier so that you do not have to search around for to long in the menu system. YouTube and Bing are also going to be added to the service, as will as being able to watch Live TV – that in itself is a cool feature to have.

Now some of you believe that it is about time that Microsoft gave you these services and they should be free, but new things always come at a price. None of us want to pay any extra, but we all know that nothing in life come for free – well maybe just the air that we breath. The current price is $60 a year for the Xbox Live service, but this could see an increase of an extra $40 at least according to GamerLive.

Brett Juchniewicz has raised a good point here, one that might have some merit. He believes that Microsoft could keep the same level of service that we currently have for those who wish to pay the same $60 each year. However, those who are happy with the new content can opt to pay the extra fee. We in no way want to pay the extra, so do not think for one moment that we are trying to be negative; but we know that something has to give and we know that it will not be Microsoft.

Do you think that there should be an Xbox Live price increase?

As Christopher Grant at joystiq.com recently noted, the new preview trailer may show off some of the new ‘First Strike’ multiplayer maps including Kowloon, Stadium, Berlin Wall and Discovery, but there is no sign of zombies or the new zombie map Ascension.

Thanks to a recent article by Brian Crecente over at kotaku.com, we can now bring you a few more details about the upcoming maps. For example, the Discovery map is set in an Antarctic research station, which is evenly divided by a deep chasm that’s connected by a collapsible ice bridge.

Kowloon on the other hand is inspired by the Hong Kong mission that’s found within the game’s single player campaign mode, although it has been rebuilt especially for multiplayer matches. If you enjoy close quarters maps that provide plenty of places to run and hide, then you’ll like the Stadium map.

The X-Men arcade game makes its way onto the Xbox Live store today and guess what, we have a trailer of it for your viewing pleasure at the bottom of this article courtesy of thesixaxis.com. Now I can guess what you are thinking… The graphics look awful! Remember this is an 18 year old arcade game and other releases have been popular since.

Whilst X-Men is making its way onto the Xbox there is no mention of it heading to the PSN which is quite unusual. Still as a PS3 gamer myself I am hoping it does come across to the PSN as well. For those of you that will download it good luck trying to free Professor X from the evil mutants! Thanks Konami!

What do you think about X-Men making its way onto the Xbox with no mention of it heading to the PlayStation? Will you be getting this? Let us know in the comments below.

Along with the demo, EA are also giving players who download and play the game 500 Cop Bounty and 500 Racer Bounty if and when you buy the full game. All you need to do is to make sure you use the same EA Account in the demo and in the full game.

To download the demo which is around 1.4GB, you must have an Xbox Live Gold subscription and it can be found via the Xbox Live Marketplace or you can add it to your download queue from this page.

The description from the Xbox Live Marketplace for Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is quoted below: -

Experience the intensity of Cops versus Racers for the connected generation with one Hot Pursuit and one Race event that challenges each player to set the best times amongst their friends. These times are tracked via the groundbreaking Need for Speed Autolog, a new in-game technology that dynamically recommends personalised gameplay to players based on what their friends have been playing. Play the demo and you’ll receive 500 Cop Bounty and 500 Racer Bounty in the full game. Be sure to play the full game with the same EA Account you used to play the demo.

For those of you who want to know, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit will be released on November 18.

Will the demo convince you to buy NFS:HP ahead of GT5? The race heats up…

Source: Xbox Live Marketplace

The video (that can be viewed below) comes from Larry Hyrb, the Director of Programming for Xbox Live who took the new creation to YouTube where he explains the new features of the refined Xbox 360 controller.

When we first see it, it looks pretty much the same. For that, I was initially pretty disappointed, but on closer inspection we notice two obvious differences.

The D-pad – Although not massively used in this day and age, the new improved d-pad looks polished, and quite stylish. The main feature being that it can be twisted so the ‘plus sign’ raises up that gives you the choice of using it as a flat disc, or raised pad.

ABXY Buttons – Where have the colors gone? Quite strangely, Microsoft have removed the color-coded aspect of the buttons and replaced them with simple white and dark grey colors respectively.

One other thing to note is that the ergonomics of the analogue sticks have been honed with the controller now being sold with a play and charge kit.

Price – Yea, we knew this would be a talking point. Microsoft have been making some changes to their services over the past day or two, with the price increase of Xbox Live Gold, and now they want to charge us $65 when the controller comes out in November. Pit this against the cost of Kinect and Xbox Live and you are sure to be out of pocket by the end of the year.

No word on how much it will cost when it comes out in Europe in February 2011, but we are sure it will be even more obsured than it’s American brother.

Source: Tech Watch

No, stop rubbing your eyes, this deal is real. If you head over to your Xbox dashboard now you will see Xbox Live Gold Membership available to you for only $1.

Although, if you do take up this offer, remember to cancel it before the new price comes into force otherwise you will be charged at the new rate.

I think this deal will be ideal for newbies to the Xbox Live Gold experience. I suppose Microsoft wants to give gamers a chance to see if they like it or not before they commit to paying a subscription to a service they may not even use that much.

But it seems as though Microsoft are fighting an uphill battle. Sony already offer the free PSN service to gamers, with the option to upgrade to PSN Plus if they want, so the reasoning why Microsoft are upping the price is unknown.

So, as we said, if you are new to the world of online console gaming, give this offer a go by heading to your Xbox dashboard and following the on-screen menus.

Source: Just Push Start

You may recall seeing Halo: Reach on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 99999 points, but this did not mean that you could actually download the game before release date.

Although Microsoft are probably partially to blame for putting it on the marketplace, hackers managed to download the game to their consoles and have since received a message from Microsoft themselves detailing the perma-bans.

The text titled “Notification of Permanent Suspension: Prerelease title play” can be viewed in full below.

Xbox LIVE
Notification of Permanent Suspension: Prerelease title play

This email is to notify you that your Xbox LIVE account privileges have been permanently suspended due to illegitimate prerelease title play.

Your conduct was brought to the attention of the LIVE Enforcement Team through the course of our operation of the service. The LIVE Enforcement Team has reviewed the evidence regarding this conduct and determined it violates the Xbox LIVE Terms of Use and/or Code of Conduct. Because your conduct is in violation, the Xbox LIVE Enforcement Team has issued a permanent suspension.

During your suspension, you will not be able to log into Xbox LIVE. Your Xbox LIVE privileges will not be reinstated.

Customer Support is not able to modify or provide any further details about your suspension.

Microsoft expects that all customers abide by the Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct provides guidelines for appropriate behavior while using the service.

You can view the Xbox LIVE Code of Conduct from the Xbox LIVE Dashboard under Xbox LIVE Policies in Account Management, or by visiting http://www.xbox.com/live/codeofconduct.htm. You can view the Xbox LIVE Terms of Use by visiting http://www.xbox.com/live/termsofuse.htm.

Note: if you are not a user of Xbox LIVE, this suspension may have been enacted due to your activity in the Zune Social. You can view the Zune Social Code of Conduct by visiting http://www.zune.net/legal/codeOfConduct.htm. You can view the Zune Social Terms of Service by visiting http://www.zune.net/legal/termsofservice.htm.

Thank you,
LIVE Enforcement Team

So there we have it. Microsoft do not seem to be content with just blocking consoles, it’s entire accounts.

Have you had your account suspended permanently?

Source: Max Console

You will now have the ability to save your game saves on the USB storage device, along with Arcade game downloads and Xbox LIVE gamer profile. Microsoft has teamed up with Sandisk to offer an Xbox 360 USB Flash Drive specifically for use with the games console.

The flash drive comes in a choice of two capacities, 8GB and 16GB, both will offer one-month of Xbox 360 Live Gold membership – these will be available to purchase in May. The price will be $34.99 and $69.99 respectively.

I4U informs us that the new update should be ready to download in a couple of hours.
Once you have updated let us know if you experience any problems.