It has been announced by EA Sports that they have released the demo for the Xbox 360, and the demo is available to download right away but only for gamers who are Gold members of Xbox Live. The demo is around 1.9GB in size and will give gamers a taste of what is to come when the full title is released next month.

Previously we reported that no other than Lionel Messi had defected from the Pro Evolution Soccer franchise to head over to the team at EA Sports and the FIFA titles. The latest title in the FIFA Street franchise will be the first for the best part of four years, and is being developed by the same team who were responsible for the hugely successful FIFA 12.

The new game will also use the same engine as FIFA 12, and will be available to early adopters of the EA Sports Season Ticket. The just released demo will feature both Italy’s AC Milan, and the English Premier Leagues Manchester City. The latest installment in the franchise has been promised by the developer to be more authentic looking compared to previous releases.

As was reported before EA Sports has added the new Street Network feature, which basically adds a social competition to the game. Meanwhile it is being reported by Strategy Informer that EA is thinking of using some of the moves and mechanics in FIFA 13. FIFA Street will feature a new dibbling system that may find its way onto this year’s FIFA title.

To recap FIFA Street 2012 is set to be released in the US on March 13th with Europe getting the game on the 16th. Will you be getting FIFA Street?

More About: EA Sports, FIFA Street 2012, Xbox 360, xbox live

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UK residents were recently offered the Netflix streaming service for the first time, and now Sky has announced new TV service via the internet to be launched during the first half of the year. According to a report on Electric Pig the new service will be available to anyone with a broadband connection.

The company has revealed that it will be accessed on a number of different platforms that include PCs, smartphones, Macs, connected TVs, and games consoles. This could mean that PlayStation 3 owners may get the service as owners of the Xbox 360 already has access to some Sky services.

Currently PS3 owners can rent some Sky shows via the PS Store, but is a lot less content to what Sky is talking about now. The service will exist alongside Sky Go but is different as you won’t need to subscribe to any service. Users will be able to simply rent a single movie or if they subscribe to a monthly package have unlimited access to Sky Movies.

Sky promises that streaming will be instant with an interface that will be “intuitive” to use. It will be ideal for consumers who want Sky TV but are unable to install a satellite dish for whatever reason.

More About: Sky TV, Sony PS3, Xbox 360

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Consumers over in the UK are now being offered some new console bundle deals from supermarket chain Morrison’s. According to an article over at MCV the 160GB version of the PlayStation 3 is available for only £150, while the 250GB version is priced at £200. The 320GB PS3 Karate Kid bundle is now only £200.

If you would rather have the Microsoft Xbox 360 the 4GB Kinect bundle is up for only £185, or the 250GB console is yours for £150. If you already have the Xbox 360 and want to add the Kinect this on its own is now £85.

The Nintendo Wii has seen some big price drops as well, and is not surprising considering its replacement is being released later this year. The Blue version bundled with Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games is now only £85. The white Wii along with Mario Kart is available for the same price, and the Wii Family Edition is also £85.

These prices are pretty cheap when compared to online retailer Amazon who has the Blue Wii bundle for £109.99, and the 320GB PS3 Karate Kid bundle is £229.99. While over at rival supermarket Tesco the Blue Wii bundle is listed at £129, and the 160GB PS3 is priced at £199.

Other retailers will probably soon be offering their own deals that could be even better than Morrison’s, as they try and get consumers to part with their cash. Have you seen even cheaper prices elsewhere?

More About: morrisons, Nintendo Wii, Sony PS3, Xbox 360

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A source who is currently working on a title for the console has been speaking to Develop anonymously about the Wii U. The source is claiming that the Wii U could achieve around twice the processing and graphical potential of the Xbox 360.

Many have thought previously that the Wii U would only match the current system from Microsoft, so it beats expectations of it so far. But it is being claimed that some studios expected more from the console.

A project designer has allegedly complained that the Wii U is below the power that Nintendo originally announced, which has meant some scaling down their plans. This comes as the next Xbox is rumored to be six times more powerful as the Xbox 360, which would leave the Wii U trailing behind again.

The site is also reporting that a leading UK racing studio has agreed to support the Nintendo Wii U with a title each year. A lot of Nintendo’s target audience won’t be to concerned how powerful the new system will be, and be more worried about getting a quality line up of games. It would become a problem though if the systems internals prevented this from happening.

Do you care how powerful the Wii U will be?

More About: Nintendo Wii U, Xbox 360

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The game has seen a lengthy delay and may have finally been given a release date, but not via the standard route. UK retailer Argos has just launched its new spring/summer catalogue, and according to a report on MCV the game is listed for an April release.

Designed exclusively for the Xbox 360 Kinect motion controller, the game has been praised and criticized for its game play during its development. It has to be remembered though that this listing could be wrong, but the Microsoft Game Studios had previously said the game would finally launch this spring, so it may be accurate.

The retailer normally brings out two new catalogues each year and could have easily guessed at the release date. When Microsoft were contacted regarding the date the spring time frame was confirmed, and that the company will have more news to reveal soon.

It also makes you wonder if the game could find its way onto Windows with the release of the Kinect device for the platform fast approaching. Meanwhile strangely Amazon has the game listed for a December 31st 2012 shipping date.

Will you be getting Kinect Star Wars?

More About: Microsoft Kinect, Star Wars Kinect, Xbox 360

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In an interview with MCV, UKIE Chairman Andy Payne explained that the PC chart is more complicated than an XBLA or PSN one. He went on to say that they were now in talks with both online services and talked about why they hadn’t begun with them first before the PC. He said ‘At the time, people were touchy about data. But attitudes have changed amongst content owners and platform holders.”

This news will be no doubt welcomed by most people, but there are some who feel this transitional stage of all games becoming digital could have a negative impact on the market. The folk over at VideoGamer are pleased to see this kind of action being taken meanwhile, saying ‘it is an important step to get digital charts up and running now,’ so as to avoid what happened when Steam and other similar services launched and as a result the PC games market lost out on sales.

This threat is imminent for consoles as future consoles are likely to embrace digital distribution, for example the OnLive console has already begun enjoying some success as there is a gap in the market for consoles such as these. What do you think of the introduction of console download charts? Will it benefit console gaming?

More About: ps3, UKIE, Xbox 360

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One of the most noticeable improvements was more solid support and integration of apps, a recent EuroGamer article has confirmed that entertainment app usage has gone up 50% since the dashboard update based on data collected in November 2011 and December 2011. When you compare figures from 2010 to 2011 there was 140% growth in terms of video consumed globally on Xbox LIVE and we predict even stronger growth when 2012′s statistics come in.

Other figures suggest that 60% of all Xbox Live Gold members used entertainment apps in December for on average 1 hour per day, this shows that people aren’t just trying out these apps and forgetting about them, they are returning to them and using them over and over again – this suggests that enhanced support for apps is popular with Xbox 360 owners.

On a personal note I used to use a HTPC to watch online streaming services on my HDTV in my living room, however since the update I have not turned this HTPC on as my 360 now allows me to catch up on TV episodes and movies thanks to apps such as 4oD, Demand 5 and Netflix. In fact using the 4OD app I have saved money as I was going to buy the Peep Show and Phoneshop box sets, however all the episodes for these programs are on Channel 4′s servers ready to stream – hopefully the BBC iPlayer app will hurry up!

Have you watched more video on your 360 than ever before since the dashboard update?

More About: microsoft, Xbox 360, xbox live

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Microsoft managed to dominate the industry during last year, and the Xbox accounted for almost half of all spending on physical sales. Around $6.7 billion was spent on the Xbox last year, and according to AllThingsD was forty percent of consumer retail spending.

Data released by NPD shows that $4.6 billion was spent on games, while $2.1 billion was spent on new consoles. In total there was $17.02 billion spent on gaming during 2011, which is an eight percent drop compared to the year before. This mirrors the situation in the UK that also saw a slide in revenue compared to 2010.

It is pretty impressive if you consider that out of that $17.02 billion Microsoft got forty percent of that. The figures don’t take into account sales from digital downloads, or from used games or rentals. Results for the whole year were surprisingly brought down by a disappointing December, which accounted for only 23 percent of the annual total. This compares to the last ten years where the December average accounted for 28 percent.

Rival PlayStation 3 also continues to do well with a five percent increase across all game categories for the year, while unsurprisingly the Nintendo Wii saw a drop ahead of the release of a new model this year. Microsoft themselves have claimed that it outsold the PS3 by 2.7 million units, with a total of 66 million Xboxes now been sold.

It won’t come as any surprise but MW3 was the biggest selling game in December followed by Just Dance 3 and Skyrim. Mario Kart 7 was at number four just ahead of Battlefield 3. Are you Surprised that Microsoft account for so much of the revenue?

More About: microsoft, Xbox 360

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It is being claimed that the company has put a halt to talks with various media companies about providing an online subscription service for TV shows. Reuters is reporting that Microsoft has been in talks with potential partners for over a year now, and was looking to get a service out to customers in the coming months.

It is now thought that Microsoft is thinking again about any such service because the licensing costs are too expensive for the service that the company was planning on. Early versions of the service had a number of features that took advantage of the Kinect and allowed channels to be changed via voice and motion control.

Microsoft wants to provide a service similar to Netflix where users would have the option of paying a monthly fee, and have access to content besides a cable or satellite TV company. But Microsoft wanted to offer customers current shows and live networks as part of its service, which would had made the costs much more expensive.

The company is said to be still working with the TV industry to provide shows over the web via the Xbox to customers of cable services. It recently revealed a number of new apps for its Xbox Live service from the likes of Fox News, Fox Broadcast, and News Corp among others.

It is still hoped that Microsoft will restart the talks sometime in the future, as the likes of Amazon and Google try to make an impact on the US cable TV ecosystem. These companies are playing catch up to Netflix that has over 23 million users in the US, and has recently launched in the UK.

More About: microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox TV

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An article over at ComputerandVideogames.com is reporting that Infinity Ward has announced the first MW3 DLC will become available on January 24, 2012. The DLC will be available to those who are Call of Duty Elite members on Xbox Live first.

Robert Bowling, Infinity Ward’s creative strategist talked about the news via a Call of Duty Elite video. He revealed that Modern Warfare 3 DLC will be more varied than previous offerings, and also announced that Infinity Ward, Raven, and Sledgehammer are all working together on updates for the title.

He said that the way they are going to provide downloadable content this time will be “unlike we’ve ever done before”. This will translate into how gamers will get it and added “We’re doing more than just maps. We’re going to do Spec Ops missions and a variety of things that players have never seen before”.

Bowling said that having three developers working on the content was a great thing, and promises to provide gamers with something special. There has been mystery and rumors surrounding when gamers will get treated to DLC content for MW3, and now you know when it all kicks off. Currently there are no dates for other platforms to begin receiving the first DLC content from Infinity Ward.

Are you looking forward to the first batch of DLC content for MW3?

More About: infinity ward, MW3, Xbox 360

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