Our Xbox-toting brethren at 360 Fanboy recently came across a list of Xbox Live Arcade titles which may be up for expungement in Microsoft's spring cleaning of their online store. The list (available after the break) includes all titles that fulfill the first and second criteria of Microsoft's new standards -- that is, they've been available for six months, and currently hold a 65 percent or lower average score on Metacritic. A steady conversion rate (the number of people who purchase the complete title after downloading the demo, a figure only Microsoft has access to) is the only thing standing between these games and a date with the delete button -- so if you've been holding out on downloading Shrek-N-Roll, you may want to pick it up in an expedient manner.

Despite a few updates to the basic interface, Microsoft's Xbox Live has remained a remarkably consistent gold standard for online console gaming since it relaunched with the Xbox 360. Could the service be due for a major overhaul for the next console generation? It sure could, if a Microsoft job posting is to be believed.

The posting, which went up in January, looks for a project manager who wants "to be involved in the next release of Xbox" and "[build] the games, the console interface and logic, and the server support for a totally new LIVE experience." The manager will also act as a games producer to "help implement our first generation games that will run in this new environment." The posting doesn't reveal much about the functionality of the new Live, but apparently it will include a "dynamic server support to create a compelling, fresh scenario each time," whatever that means. What features would you want to see in the next generation of Microsoft's online service?

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

Microsoft offers two free Xbox Live Arcade games if you bought a 360 and Live account over the past year. Fill out a short registration form and enter code "XBX0807" to qualify. However, the site is cagey about which games you'll get. The terms and conditions state that you'll receive an email code by September 30 to download the titles, but the offer "will be for games selected by Microsoft."

360 fence-sitters still have until September 15 to buy the console and net the games. And the promotion includes buyers as far back as August 8, 2006. The wording sounds like Live account renewals don't qualify, but we still registered. We've contacted Microsoft for clarification but hadn't heard specifics when this post went live. We'll update you when we learn more.

[Update: Microsoft told us it hasn't announced which games you'll get and also stated that the promotion is for new Live accounts only. So officially at least, Live renewals get no love.]

[Via Dealnews]

Like Superman and Batman trading capes, or Aquaman borrowing Wonder Woman's uh ... invisible plane, EA and Microsoft have been awfully chummy lately. First, Xbox exec Peter Moore leaves Microsoft to be closer to his family in San Francisco ... and take a lucrative position at EA Sports. Of course, he was replaced with former EA exec Don Mattrick, ensuring the carefully balanced game of corporate Jenga wouldn't come crashing down.

Today, Microsoft announced that EA executive vice president John Schappert has joined the company in the newly created position of "corporate vice president of LIVE, software and services." The one-time founder of Madden-dev Tiburon will oversee Xbox Live as well as Games for Windows Live, XNA and Microsoft Casual Games, which includes Xbox Live Arcade. He'll be reporting directly to his old EA compatriot – you guessed it – Don Mattrick. We imagine their meetings will involve reminiscing about that time they did that thing at that one group team building exercise in '99 and various ways they could spell Microsoft with a consecutive 'e' and an 'a.' Good times, good times.

Now, to complete the circle, Xbox will need to sacrifice one of their own to EA! Let the ritual commence ...

Following the Australian rating and the leaked video, Hudson Entertainment finally announced Bomberman Live is coming to XBLA this summer. The title will sport an "HD makeover" and 8-player online support. Along with the very robust online multiplayer, players will have full customization of their Bomberman -- now don't ruin this moment by microtransactioning us for costumes Hudson!

This may finally erase all memories of Bomberman: Act Zero from our minds. And in what's sure to make a lot of gamers happy, not only will you be able to play online, but Bomberman Live will also allow for 4-player local action. It's the full package. No word on price yet. Definitely looking forward to gussied up classic Bomberman action over Xbox Live with seven other people. Nothing wrong with that.

[Via Press Release]

[Via Xbox360Fanboy]

Sure, you could be excited that Disney has announced arcade versions of Tron and Discs of Tron are coming to Xbox Live Arcade at some unspecified time this summer. You could be jazzed that Backbone is throwing in online multiplayer and updated graphics with the releases, but we just can't seem to get there. Maybe it's because these games come 25 years after Tron ignited the imaginations of 1982 cavemen who hadn't even heard of the internet and we've fallen woefully short in making their neon-drenched dreams reality.

Think about it. It's been two-and-a-half decades now, and the closest we've come to being digitized by a radical laser, assigned an identity disc and being forced to compete in gladiator-style games that may or may not result in our termination is waving around a white stick. Forget the MCP, we haven't even reached the technological sophistication of the VR Troopers -- and they were awful. So go ahead, feel free to enjoy the games of the past. We'll be too busy feeling guilty that our present is also some 1982 movie goer's future.

Gallery: Tron / Discs of Tron (XBLA)

[Update: The good Major says that everything's hunky-dory, so demo to your heart's content.]

Xbox 360 owners are finally able to get a taste of the phenomenon that's been sweeping basements across the globe: Catan, based on the much more inconveniently titled board game Settlers of Catan, has rolled onto Xbox Live. Unfortunately, if you're interested in the XBLA download, you're going to have to take the guys in the basements' word on it, as Catan has arrived without a free trial.

Major Nelson is already on the case, saying that an "issue" was discovered and the trial had to be removed from the service. To answer your questions: Yes, they have their top scientists working on the problem and no, they don't know how long it will take to fix. But hey, it's $10 (800 MS points), live a little! Thousands of guys in basements can't be wrong, and they had to drop $30 for the thing.

Back in my day, everyone brought their fancy new transistor radios to the ball game to listen to the play-by-play. And the players people didn't wear their ball caps backwards, like you young'ns today! And Cracker Jack cost only a nickel! And certain folk weren't allowed on the field, dagnabbit!

Well, the times are a-changin', because soon people attending London Arsenal soccer matches will be able to get streaming stats and replays on their PSPs via a program called S.PORT (Back in my day, dots went at the end of sentences, consarnit). The program even allows live streaming of the game, for when you have to go to use the facilities (Back in my day, they weren't called the "facilities." It was called an outhouse, and it smelled awful. But did we complain? Noooooo.)

At this rate, soon you won't even have to go to your local sports stadium to see the game. With all the technology and such these days, I bet someone'll come up with a way to beam images of the game directly into your home, so you can watch from the comfort of your couch. Boy, won't that be something.

The primary reason a major movie production house makes a movie is to make a profit. Sure, some of those indie guys do it for the art, but they're not normally rolling in the big bucks. Now, Hollywood has a new way to boost an otherwise losing film into a winner.

Xbox Live's downloadable HD service is doing a stand-up job in delivering the goods. Movies like Poseidon, which failed to make back the $160 million budget in the US (apparently Hollywood doesn't count international ticket sales), are getting some great support from Live. The reasoning behind the support is the HD version.

Where other services like Amazon's Unbox not faring too well, Microsoft hit pay dirt with their HD downloads. When movies start pulling in profits on Xbox Live, Hollywood is certainly going to put more up on the service and possibly as soon as the regular versions hit the store shelves. With the confusion most consumers are having in the HD-DVD vs Blu-ray war, it would appear Xbox Live is going to be the big winner in the HD content war.

It would appear Call of Duty fans are experiencing déjà vu. Back when Call of Duty 2 released for the Xbox 360, the game had serious multiplayer problems; problems that took four months to fix. To the dismay of gamers, Call of Duty 3 has its own set of online problems, despite being made by a different developer than CoD2.

Buzz on the official Xbox.com message boards says that CoD3 players are unable to enter into ranked matches or (in some cases) any at all. Some players are unable to find any games, regardless of what skill level is entered into the system. Others join games and find themselves sitting in lobbies indefinitely. A different group find the multiplayer menu locking up on them. One theory suggests that anyone trying to join a ranked game ends up making a new lobby, which would result in thousands of one player online matches.

Console games are supposed to be simple plug and play affairs. We might expect these Call of Duty 3 multiplayer issues in a PC version, not a 360 version. Because of unified hardware and online components, console games should always ship (mostly) bug-free. We hope Call of Duty 3 is an isolated affair, but after issues with Dead Rising and Saint's Row, are we beginning to see an ugly trend in console games? The release now, patch later method is unacceptable on the PC, even more so on a game console.

[Thanks The Wallbanger]

Just when we were getting used to calling Sony's as-yet-unnamed online service PlayStation HUB, Sony goes and pulls the marketing rug out from under our collective (and terribly presumptuous) feet. Sony's Kaz Hirai recently told Next Generation that they have a philosophical difference with their competitors when it comes to branding their online service. In other words, no PlayStation Live or PS3Connect24. Says Kaz:

"What we don't do however is have a brand name for the network service, you know, like PlayStation Online or PlayStation Live, and this is because we don't we don't see a 'PlayStation offline.'"

Sony insists the service will be free for consumers and flexible for publishers. Of course, this reminds us of the similarly free and flexible -- and poorly supported -- online services seen on the PS2 and the PSP platforms. Before we get needlessly worried that the PS3's online service will be another poorly supported, nameless offering, we'll wait to learn more during Sony's Gamer's Day event in San Francisco later today.

[Thanks, theinvisiblemooseman]

Major Nelson sends word that the Xbox Live network will soon disappear into a nebulous offline abyss for some maintenance. Currently scheduled for Tuesday, 17 October and expected to last for 24 hours, attempts by your Xbox 360 to connect to Live will be met with unnerving digital silence. Mark the date on your calendars and be sure to reschedule your planned sessions of disconnecting early, screaming into your headset and informing other players of their sexual orientation.

The official Xbox website will also be taken down and worked upon in order to accomodate "some secret cool stuff." None of which, as the site insists, includes a dashboard update. Incidentally, 17 October is also the release date for Splinter Cell: Double Agent.

[Via Major Nelson]

While demos for major retail games dominated the show floor at X06, there was a small neglected corner devoted to current and upcoming games for Xbox Live Arcade. Some of the more interesting upcoming releases:

• Assault Heroes -- Yet another overhead shooter with dual-stick controls for movement and shooting. This one sets itself apart with vehicles and... that's about it. Graphics are impressively detailed for a Live Arcade title.
  
• Heavy Weapon -- Also a dual-stick shooter, but this one is from the side view. Co-op play has been added since the E3 demo, and the graphics have been polished up quite a bit. Simple, but surprisingly addictive -- all it needs is a jump button to be truly complete.
  
• Small Arms -- Described by the demo attendant on hand as "Super Smash Bros., but with weapons," a pretty accurate assessment. Lots of button-mashing in both long range and melee combat. Controls and balance need some touching up, but has the potential to be a great party game.
  
• Street Trace NYC -- Very early version of a hoverboard/shooter deathmatch, complete with rail slides and rocket launchers. Targeting was a mess and managing all the different weapons and functions while boarding was difficult. Needs work.

No specific releases or prices were available for these titles, but Microsoft said they are all expected by the holidays worldwide.

Also see: Lumines Live mini-impressions