Xbox Live/Xbox.com outages on Monday and Tuesday

1. Xbox Live/Xbox.com outages on Monday and Tuesday
2. My Xbox is coming
3. Xbox 360 kiosks are out there
4. Get Xbox 360 games early
5. New maps for Doom 3
6. Florida attorney Jack Thompson is outta control
7. Am I bugging you? How 'bout now?

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NEWS:

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1. Xbox Live.Xbox.com outages on Monday and Tuesday

Xbox Live, Microsoft's premiere onling gaming service, and Xbox.com (including the forums), will be offline Monday and Tuesday (Oct. 24th to 25th), to prepare for the launch of Xbox Live on Xbox 360 -- A month in advance of the new console.

Everything'll be back online Tuesday, with a new look, tighter integration, and -- My Xbox.

2. My Xbox is coming

Along with the relaunch of Xbox Live and Xbox.com, My Xbox will be "a seamless integration between Xbox 360, Xbox Live, and Xbox.com". You can log onto My Xbox from Xbox.com, and see your friends, games you play, and -- new to the Xbox 360 world -- achievements you earn, Gamer Zone, reputation (out of 5 stars), and gamerscore in real time.

You'll be able to get to your info -- and that of other gamers -- from Xbox.com or from the Xbox Live dashboard. You'll also be able to share your own gamer card -- on MSN Spaces, the Xbox forums, on your personal Web page or blog, or as your active Windows® desktop.

More info online (once it's back online). You'll need to link your Gamertag to a Microsoft Passport account.

Oh, and they haven't said anything yet, but I'm calling this one early -- integration with MSN Messenger.

I said last week that Microsoft and Yahoo were joining forces on the Instant Messaging front. I also notice that my Xbox tab on MSN Messenger has changed to the new Xbox 360 logo. So I'm just saying ...

3. Xbox 360 kiosks are out there

Reportedly, Wal-Mart started getting playable Xbox 360s last week. Joystiq.com has a running list of comment from readers claiming their local Wal-Mart has the new consoles.

The most interesting? Not that they'll be playing "videos of 10 games expected to make the console's launch", (slightly more interesting is allegedly playable demos of King Kong and Call of Duty 2), but that "customers will be able to download content from the kiosk, provided they bring in a memory card". Hmm ...

GameStop stores started outfitting Friday, and should all be outfitted within a month.

Seems to me Microsoft's being unfortunately close to the vest as to when Joe Gamer is going to get some hands-on time with the new console.

4. Get Xbox 360 games early

Supposedly, Best Buy will have a number of titles available November 15 -- a week before the console -- including Call of Duty 2, Condemned: Criminal Origins, Dead or Alive 4, Kameo: Elements of Power, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Quake 4, Perfect Dark: Zero, and Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland. King Kong will supposedly ship when the console ships, and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion may be pushed to December, and Project Gotham Racing 3 my be slipping into 2006.

Keep in mind, J Allard kind of hedged on the console launch date of November 22, saying some retailers "may make the console available early" -- probably a nod to retailer Wal-Mart/Sams Club, who historically don't honor publishers or manufacturers release dates.

5. New maps for Doom 3

"Surface" and "Communications" were part of Doom 3's stand-alone expansion, Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil, and download the maps for free.

6. Florida attorney Jack Thompson is outta control

Jack Thompson seems to hate video games. Possibly game makers. Maybe gamers, too. The arguably reactionary Florida attorney regularly attacks games with (again, arguably) frivolous lawsuits or non-calls to actions.

Most recently, Thompson has gotten into a pissing contest with Web comic Penny Arcade -- the funny, crass, video game culture comic that inspires a huge fanbase.

Check out summaries on GameSpot.com, Penny Arcade (search for "oh nos it's teh feds!"), and Game Politics.

7. Am I bugging you? How 'bout now?

How about now? Now? How about ... right now?

Anyway, a bunch of you are on E-Mail for this blog, so this is a heads up that I'm going to be doing a lot more with this blog.

If you get bugged by the volume, get a hold of me and let me know if you want me to remove you from distribution list. You can also sign up for XML feed distributions, too.

Or just set up an Email filter and let me live on blissfully with my perception of readership ...