XBAcast Show 19 [41:13m]: Play in Popup | Download

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This week, Conartistic and I are by ourselfs as we talk about things like our E3 predictions, The Penny Arcade Expo, The DRM-tool, and more. Listen in and here what we had to say.

Links to things we talked about:
http://www.xbapodcast.com/?p=559
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/licensemigration/?WT.svl=nav
http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=14472
http://forums.totalgamerradio.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=33
http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/06/25/gears-of-war-2-beta-footage-leaked/
http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/06/26/more-gears-of-war-2-beta-footage-disrupted-chainsaw-duel/
http://forums.xbox.com/19683003/ShowPost.aspx

Show Notes:
This show was recorded on Sunday, June 29, 2008 after the UEFA 2008 European Cup Final between Spain & Germany

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This dude is a  web designer, web dev and C++ programmer by day and a famous Italian Xbox LIVE community member by night.
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 Brutal DJC XBAcast Show 6 [37:51m]: Play in Popup | Download

Host: Brutal DJC

Co-hosts: Jordman12 and MasterGazelle

Show Notes:
This show was recorded on Sunday, June 29, 2008 before the UEFA 2008 European Cup Final between Spain & Germany
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The 2008 NFL season is almost upon us, and this year The XBAcast will be holding its very own Listener vs. Staff Fantasy football league.  And top make it better there will be some handsome prizes(TBA).  Spots are limited so if you want to play join our forums and email us your name, XBOX LIVE Gamertag and email address to XBAnfl@xbapodcast.com.  Once again spots are limited so hurry!!

With E3 a mere 2 weeks away I decided to hip out my magic ball and make some predictions on what we will and will not hear this year.

What will we hear:
1) A dashboard update before the end of the year.  There is already rumors about “avatars” and “gamepad” swirling around the web.  And I will have to agree those will be the major addition to the 360 dashboard.  Sony has already stated that “Home” will be rolled out this year and Microsoft will need to counter with their own virtual social world.
2)Price Cut and new Pro system.  The 360 is no longer beating the PS3 each month.  This is not good…The PS3 has gotten a BIG bump in sales due to Blu-Ray winning the HD war, and since the XBOX isn’t going BLU anytime soon MS will need to drop the price and offer more bang for the buck.
3) More Gears 2 and More Halo Wars.  Expect tons of info and videos! And most important release dates.
4) GTA 4 DLC, expect the first round of DLC for GTA 4 to be shown off, And I bet its going to be Vice CIty or San Andreas but not both.
5) 360 built in systems, its rumored and I sw it happening, just think a Samsung LCD with bilt in 360, no more need to have a seperate gaming box, all built in and ready to hang on your wall!

What we won’t hear:
1) 360 BLU-Ray, its not happening, it would have happened already.  We have to wait till the next XBOX system.
2) the XBOX 1080 (360 x2 get it…hahaha) We are nearing the end of the products life cycle however the 360 still has a few more years left.  Expect to see the next Xbox system at E3 2009 with a system launch of 2010.
3) Halo 4, nope you gotta wait till next year, this year is all about Halo Wars.
4) Free XBOX Live.  There has been a lot of talk as of late with how LIVE compares with the PSN.  When compared there is very little difference for the user, yet big savings for the developer.  Don’t expect MS to start giving out free gold subscriptions, the subscriber base is still going up, so there is no reason to change buisness models.
5) Bill Gates, he’s offically retired from the company.  Nomore press confrences for Bill now he gets to sit at home and roll around in his BILLIONS….

So MajorNelson posted today, that the Content License Transfer Tool (aka the DRM Tool) is now available.

Which is great news for me, since I have downloaded a wide variety of Live Content on a few different Xbox’s.
So what the DRM tool does for us, is allow our current Xbox the rights to all of the things we have downloaded. For Example, Say I downloaded 20 Xbox Live Arcade games. Xbox Live then gives that Specific Xbox the rights to play those games, whether that be online, offline, or on other accounts on that box. Then my Xbox 360 RRoD’s and I have to send it in for repair. Well when my Xbox comes back, I have a new Console Identification number. Which means I am only allowed to play those previous 20 Arcade games when I am conected to Xbox Live.

Long story short, many people were angry. So today Microsoft has fixed this issue.

http://www.xbox.com/drm is the link to get started

MajorNelson has a How-To Video, see it after the break.

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 Brutal DJC XBAcast Show 5 [56:50m]: Play in Popup | Download

Host: Brutal DJC

Co-hosts:MasterGazelle,Jordman 12 and The Bioshocking.

Topics Discussed:
DRM Tool (Or more rather, where the hell is it?!)
De-listing
Rock Band Vs Guitar Hero World Tour
lots more as well , so listen (please)!

Finally someone has begun a class action lawsuit against Electronics Arts for “blatantly anticompetitive conduct”.  Ever since EA aquired the right to the NFL and the NFL players they have removed all other competition and formed a “videogame monopoly” Last week two gamers in Washington, DC and California filed suit against the publisher in the US District Court of Northern California, alleging “blatantly anticompetitive conduct” in the way that it has cornered the football-gaming genre.

I have been saying for many years that the exclusivity contracts that EA has held and keeps buying up of sports genres is wrong and has not only caused higher prices when it comes to the sports titles but has led to a rather lack luster sports gaming experience for the gamer.  Without any competition EA has been able to offer less the stellar titles at a higher price.  Remember NFL 2kwhatever Priced at 19.99 and causing EA to drop its price of Madden and to also take the madden franchise and improve it??  Well ever since they gobbled up the NFL contract EA has been able to charge the higher price and no longer improves it’s game from season to season, at least in my book.

This is a great suit and I hope that it is fought out properly in court and if it ends positively for the gamers we see other suits tied to EA’s other sports monopolies.

Well since we here at XBAcast stink at planning things we missed our 1 year birthday on June 3rd. So instead this whole month we will celebrate our BIRFDAY!!! And to celebrate I give you XBAcasy.com Version 3!
The last year has been great. We have grown more then I ever imagined when I thought up this crazy idea. I would like to thank everyone for all their help and support over the past year, I would like to extend special thanks to Conartistic and Jordman12, both of whom have helped get this project off the ground as well as being the ever improving show hosts that they are and for taking my abuse and jabs. I would also like to thank BrutalDJC and his fellas for their more recent and future contributions, as well as Sawman for his stories and work behind the scenes. I would like to thank Twylyght Myst, packermatt7, die coward, Dee Cazo, crazybros, Captain Geek, and Cadet Collins for their stories, promotion and for being guests on the shows. And lastly thank you to all the XA’s and the rest of the XBOX community. The next year ought to be very fun and exciting!!