Disney may be a Blu-ray exclusive supporter, but that doesn't mean Xbox 360 owners won't be able to enjoy Disney movies in high definition. Microsoft has just announced that Disney will be providing downloadable HD movies to the Xbox Live Marketplace. Even more surprising ... it'll happen tonight. Get your hard drives ready to download!

Tomorrow is Bungie Day for the Halo 3 developer, as they've celebrated every July 7 in recent memory. Since it will be 2007 (i.e. 7/7/07, or triple 7s), there is some "extra special content" coming to Xbox Live Marketplace, according to the developer's website, in addition to new content on Bungie.net itself.

As to what the goodies will be, exactly, Bungie isn't saying -- "don't get too excited, it's not Halo 3," said the newsbrief. We're predicting gamertag pictures, themes, and the like, of either Halo, Marathon or their long-running joke Pimps at Sea.

Regardless of what the content is, there's only a small window of opportunity, as the mysterious content will only be available from 5:00 am ET until 3:00 am on Sunday.

[Via X3F]

Microsoft is reemploying their Bringing it Home campaign for this year's Min-E3. The campaign has previously been seen during last year's E3 and their X06 event in Barcelona, Spain.

As part of Bringing it Home, a barrage of content will be made available via Xbox Live, including their July 10 press conference, game trailers, themes, gamer pictures, demos and other video updates. Some of the games mentioned include Assassin's Creed, Bioshock, Blue Dragon and Project Gotham Racing 4. A partial list (expect surprises from the show) is available after the break.

[Via X3F]

Eidos UK has officially announced Tomb Raider: Anniversary for the Xbox 360, confirming almost all of the theories originating from the ESRB listing we unearthed earlier this month. We say "almost," because one of said theories had the game being distributed via antiquated catapult. That's clearly and unfortunately not the case, as Anniversary will initially arrive on the Xbox 360 as a set of four downloadable episodes incorporated into Tomb Raider: Legend. The publisher notes that this marks the first occasion of a full game being serialized on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

As suggested in the earlier article, the episodes should be split across the various locales Lara Croft explores and inevitably desecrates in the Crystal Dynamics remake of the 1996 original. Lady Croft's manor will be offered as a free download, while the complete set of episodes will cost 2400 MS Points -- $30 and on par with the cost of the already released PC and PS2 versions.

Eidos promises to release Episode 1 and Episode 2 in September, with the final two episodes following "shortly afterwards." Those bemoaning the fact that they've since traded in Tomb Raider: Legend (understandable!) or never bothered to pick it up (unacceptable!) can wait for a retail version of Anniversary to be released on Xbox 360 "later in the year."

In a politely worded e-mail, Microsoft has announced that seriously simmy sequel, Forza Motorsport 2, has at last gone gold. Having hit Ctrl+S for the final time, the team at Turn 10 Studios has sent the finished code off to the disc pressers, shortly before collapsing into a nearby and distinctly unhygienic pool of blood, sweat and oil.

A demo of Forza 2 is currently available on the Xbox Live Marketplace and the full game can be expected to arrive on 29 May. UK retailers currently list a June 8th release date for those that enjoy driving on the wrong side of the road.

[Via Microsoft press release]

While the internet continues to decimate conventional demarcations like "countries" or "continents," content owners still find themselves funneled into separate geographical compartments. As an Xbox Live user, you are encouraged to keep your arms, legs and credit cards on the inside at all times, lest you cause some sort of international incident. The Xbox 360's Spring (that's Autumn for those on the other half of the planet!) dashboard update will further enforce this by restricting downloads based on the location of your console.

As Microsoft's John Porcaro explains it on the Gamerscore Blog, "if you have set up an account that does not match the country where you are located, you will find that these new security measures will only allow you to purchase and download content that is licensed in the country where you are located." Frequently, said country will not go by the name of "America," as the wealth of content available to US subscribers utterly dwarfs that found in other regions, including Europe. There's a reason people are taking their Xbox Live accounts on international trips.

While this primarily concerns content such as television shows and movies (which often hit Xbox Live before they've even been advertised in other countries), the decision to "strengthen the territory controls" seems exclusionary when more effort could be made to spread the content on a supposedly global network. The spider's web of licensing and regulation within television makes the delay and segregation somewhat understandable, but the possibility of Xbox Live Arcade games becoming similarly entangled is worrisome. Gamers in countries where the Xbox 360 has launched sans "official" Live support are already being foiled in their attempts just to purchase MS points. Your plastic's no good -- oh, except when it comes time to renew that Gold subscription. Then those borders fall down like dominoes.

Containing four new maps and a strong allusion to bulletproof codpieces, the "Hidden Fronts" map pack for testosterone explosion simulator, Gears of War, is now available for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace. In exchange for 800 MS points ($10), you'll receive approximately 230 megabytes of data that will automagically congeal on your hard drive and form beautiful, post-apocalyptic environments.

Those less intent on wiping out the Locust horde can wait until September 3rd for the maps to become free of charge.

After popping up in a scanned page of Official Xbox Magazine, the Forza 2 demo has been given the official and unrelentingly green light by the Microsoft pit crew. The Redmond giant tells Eurogamer that further details regarding the demo, including its time of arrival on the Xbox Live Marketplace "will be confirmed in the coming weeks."

As if sensing the impatience surrounding Forza 2's May release, Microsoft also doled out another list of cars set to be featured in the final product. Though you might better judge them after the break, we feel confident in confirming them all to be fast, shiny and the sort of expensive that demands the use of words like "ludicrously," "disgustingly," "outrageously" and "quite."

The second multiplayer map pack for Capcom's frigid Xbox 360 shooter, Lost Planet, has been scheduled to arrive on the Live Marketplace this Friday, April 6. The two maps contained therein are "Hive Complex," a thankfully hygienic mine with bridges and tunnels scattered across a mountainside, and "Trial Point," a modern office complex featuring "a photorealistic backdrop of a busy city center." Capcom's community website holds video footage of the maps, both of which look graphically splendid (if you're into that sort of thing).

The asking price is 400 MS points, or 5 of your nigh incomprehensible American "bucks".

This coming Tuesday is a big day for people that are both fans of South Park and Xbox 360 owners. Comedy Central is releasing the first ever high definition episode of South Park on the Xbox Live Marketplace to all members (we're assuming this means Silver and Gold) for free. That's right, everyone's favorite word -- free. It will be on Marketplace at that low, low, price of free for two weeks, and will also be available as a free HD-DVD to people buying a new Xbox 360 console or the HD-DVD add-on drive at Best Buy from March 20th through April 3rd.

The episode is a couple of years old, but it is definitely a fan fave. It's 'Good Times With Weapons' from the 2004 season ... better known as the "South Park Ninjas episode. The style changes from the traditional cutout look into anime style pictured above, and it will look, er ... extra-animated in HD. Couple this with the fact that South Park's new season starts this Wednesday, and new episodes will be on XBLM each following week, the fanboys and fangirls should be fairly happy.

Still, for the price, who can complain? Let's hope this trend continues. Give us some free HD Battlestar Galactica episodes already. The timing on this is pretty interesting as well ... right after the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco. Does this mean Microsoft might be finally releasing the rumored Xbox 360 v2 with HDMI?

Talking about things in the industry that the public love to hate, there are a few things that float right to the top. Games.net published their list of the obvious members of this "love to hate" club and go into some detail about how they can turn the hate around. The honored members are:

• Sony
• EA
• ESRB
• Gamestop
• Gamepro Magazine
  
• Xbox Live Marketplace

The ESRB being on this list is a little awkward. The ratings board is actually a defense against legislation within the industry. It's also far more open and obvious than the Motion Picture Association of America's rating system. The marketplace also makes an odd appearance due to their recent gaming drought, but that's got nothing to do with loving to hate. The other members of this group have a history of hate; let's hope they turn it around.

New game modes and multiplayer maps comprise the first downloadable content pack for Ubisoft's first-person terrorist foiler, Rainbow Six: Vegas. Eurogamer reports that the Player's Pack Red Edition should find its way onto the Xbox Live Marketplace before the end of March. Of the two new gameplay modes, Assassination sounds like it could provide for some tense moments. One team must protect and escort a fragile and likely paranoid VIP to an extraction point, while the opposing team attempts to make said very important person a very dead one instead.

Total Conquest, on the other hand, is closer to King of the Hill, except with royalty being ordained by three seperate radar installations. As for the added multiplayer maps, two are altered versions of existing levels, namely Border Town and Killhouse, and three are brand new. These include "Doscala Restaurant," "Marshalling Yard" and the extraordinarily descriptive "Roof," which is actually a coffee factory crawling with terrorists and, you know, brewing up trouble. (OOF!)

Ubisoft has not yet appended a price tag to the content, but our expectations are set between 800 points ($10) and 1200 points ($15). Player's Pack Red Edition is currently exclusive to the Xbox 360 version of Rainbow Six: Vegas.

Speaking to Game Informer, Epic's Mark Rein sounded confident that user-created content would be distributed to Unreal Tournament 3 console players via PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. Rein explained that the reason for delaying confirmation of UT3 on 360 was tied to this issue, as Epic was unsure that Microsoft's strict certification process would allow for user mods on the console. Rein admitted that "it's still a bit of an open issue," but added that "we've had some pretty clear indications that we'll be able to [bring mods to Xbox 360]."

It's unclear how mods would be created and distributed for console use. On Xbox 360, given potential leverage earned by Gears of War's success, perhaps Epic could smuggle mods through XNA. More likely, Epic would convert select user-created mods for the PC version and distribute them via Xbox Live Marketplace (as a courtesy, we would hope). On PS3, there seem to be more "open" possibilities, but the process could be equally simplified.

[Via 1UP]

When Lumines Live! emerged in October of last year, it ran headlong into a pack of outraged gamers who felt that the game's fragmented content and costs introduced an unwelcome element to the Xbox Live Marketplace -- a roving pickpocket you bump into between fruit stalls. New downloadable content is a touchy subject then, but it appears that next week's Live! offerings are a bit less backward and a bit less, well ... Evil!

Three new packs will be available this coming Wednesday, the first of which contains the Heavenly Star skin. Perhaps the fact that it will be free to Gold subscribers until February 21 is to be interpreted as a sign of atonement. The other two, namely the VS CPU pack and the Puzzle/Mission pack fill up the gaping holes in the base download, each costing a not entirely outrageous 100 points ($1.25) each. That lasts until February 21, after which the price goes up to a thoroughly questionable 300 points ($3.75).

Why raise the price after a month? The Gamerscore Blog labels these as "special promotional prices," which really just comes across as a temporary and thinly-veiled apology cringed out by the marketing department. So, why retract the apology then? The quest for more money seems tied to the obvious answer, but that's only if you felt that Lumines Live! got microtransactions completely wrong in the first place. All things considered, the game makes for a balanced example of what's wrong and what's right in the world of pint-sized payments:

Though you might envision a "creator's club" to be some sort of blunt object used to beat beautiful games out of misshapen code, it's actually the next step in Microsoft's ongoing XNA initiative. The "community-powered arcade" is now within reach of any gamer and would-be developer willing to download XNA Game Studio Express (for Windows XP) and spend some time coming to grips with the Visual C# and .NET frameworks its based on.

Chris Satchell, general manager of Microsoft's Game Developer group, recounts Microsoft's cunning strategy of having one creative idea at a time. "When it comes to encouraging development on XNA Game Studio Express and through the XNA Creators Club, the limits are truly endless. What users will see today is just the beginning of the plans we have to revolutionize game development one creative game idea at a time."

Of course, you'll also want to make your masterpiece playable on an Xbox 360 ("playable" being the keyword so often forgotten by some developers). In order to migrate your game to the 360 and to gain access to samples, game assets and other goodies, you'll need to join the XNA Creator's Club. It's been added as a purchase on the Xbox Live Marketplace, priced at $49 for four months or $99 for an annual subscription. Early adopters will have an opportunity to get their games published on Xbox Live Arcade in a contest launching next month.

Well, what are you waiting for? Get cracking on your non-derivative 3rd-person shooter, Cogs of Conflict!

Download -- XNA Game Studio Express

[Full, slightly boring, press release after the break.]