Microsoft sued by New York company over Xbox Live

Paltalk, which claims it "services the largest online video chat community on the internet [sic]," has decided to sue Microsoft over technology used in Xbox Live. The company alleges that Live violates two US patents: 5,822,523 and 6,226,686, which relate to "gaming communications through a group message server to maintain a consistent environment for all players, as well as establishing groups for online game play." The suit was filed in the US District Court in the Eastern District of Texas. It has little chance of succeeding however, because Xbox Live is almost four years old, and Microsoft would likely settle out of court before giving up a significant source of revenue.

Gamer Scan

First Look: Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel

IGN got our first hands-on with the wheel today. Unfortunately, we felt a bit like kids at the arcade who are out of quarters but sitting in a game and steering anyway, because they couldn't let us demo the wheel with a game or hooked up to the X360.

IGN

Images of Rainbow Six: Vegas

Ubisoft released these new images from Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas, of the same map that was unveiled in the latest trailer. Some of them are multi-screenshots-in-one, so be prepared to scroll to the side to see some awesome sequences.

Xboxyde

Wii Boxing in action

Couple of guys playing the new boxing game in Wii Sports. Looks fun.

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Zune vs. iPod: About the Same Size, Both Stuck in 4:3

Here's a couple of accurate comparisons that clear up any misconceptions you might have about the Zune compared to the iPod. In that first picture on the left, you can see that the Zune's half-inch larger screen is in the same aspect ratio as the iPod's: old-style 4:3. And even though the Zune's screen is depicted in press photos as being sharper than the iPod's, both have a resolution of 320x240.

Gizmodo

Play games all day, get paid $25k per year

The reported average salary of $24,797 paid to game testers won't go far in sunny, expensive California. But hey, with the hours you'll be working, you can skip paying rent and just sleep in the office.

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VIDEO: Metroid Corruption (Read: Wii Version) Gameplay

Looks freakin' sweet, can't wait.

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Images of Superman Returns

EA released these brand new images of Superman Returns, looking hotter than ever. That doesn't necessarily mean it looks good, but this game is sure shaping up. Maybe a name change could build up some more hype?

Xboxyde

New Shadowrun Screenshots

Shadowrun propels team-based combat into a new dimension with a revolutionary blend of modern weaponry and ancient magic. Up to 16 players can battle for control of this new world through Xbox 360-to-Windows Vista online compatibility.

TeamXbox

Microsoft's bloggers dispute internal HD-DVD claim

Microsoft's high profile blogging fraternity has once again disputed claims that the company is working on a revision of the Xbox 360 hardware that includes an internal HD-DVD drive.

GamesIndustry.biz

Energize With Mario Drink

Whenever I need a pick me up, I take a whiff from the Final Fantasy potion bottle that I keep under the porch. And that keeps me going for a good couple of hours until I pass out from dizziness. Now, I can get a Power Up from Mario. Kotakuite Henry spotted the above beverage on a train coach in Canada. I've heard it's also sold at the Nintendo World Store in New York. The fine print on the bottom says "Product not intended for children," the back says not to imbibe more than three cans a day and warns against pregnant women drinking it. I wonder if it tastes like mushrooms. Brian Ashcraft

Kotaku

XBox 360 Podcast/RSS software released

XB Stream in a nut shell is an RSS/XML feed reader/aggregator that works with the XBox 360 video game console. XB Stream allows you to view xml based content feeds (xml, rss, rdf) on your Xbox 360 video game console; you can also listen to podcasts and blogcasts as well

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IGN employee bashing other gaming sites.

IGN staffer "GSI" has been trolling the comments here on Joystiq for quite some time now, leaving 699 comments as of this evening. (How do we know? All Joystiq comments are verified via an email sent to the address commenters enter into the comment form, and... Read the rest of the article.

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Virtua Fighter 5, First ever impressions of the game running on PS3.

At a special press conference in Tokyo today, Sega let attendees play Virtua Fighter 5 on the PS3 for the very first time. I'll sum it up in two words: arcade perfect.

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Xbox 360 Boss: PS3 May Miss March, Too

There’s certainly no love lost between Microsoft and Sony when it comes to Xbox 360 and PS3, respectively. And when Sony announced that PS3 was going to be delayed in Australia, it didn’t catch Microsoft’s David McLean off guard. The top Xbox Australia executive stated recently that the delay was a big yawner over at Microsoft.

“[The PS3 delay] doesn’t surprise me–and it further wouldn’t surprise me if this product wasn’t seen in March next year either,” McLean said.

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Did Nintendo Shoot Themselves in their Wii Foot?

With the Wii releasing 2 days AFTER the Playstation 3, will the $250 pricing, and other details hurt the sells?

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EA Says Madden for the Wii Challenges Xbox 360 on Graphics

"There has basically been no loss of features at all for Madden Wii. In fact, because of the Wii-only content in Madden, I'd say that Madden Wii is the most feature rich version of Madden that's out there. we've done a whole host of things that put the game...better than the Xbox. And in some cases, we're challenging the Xbox 360 on graphics."

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Who will be buying a Nintendo Wii?

With the last of the three next-gen game consoles finally being announced, more game enthusiasts will be looking more seriously into which console offers the most value. Nintendo hopes that it will not only keep its existing base, but pick up the mainstream crowd and, here and there, Playstation and Xbox gamers.

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Images and Artworks of Viva Pinata

Microsoft released the Viva Pinata Fan Kit, and some of the images inside looked new to me. Also included were these not so interesting Concept Artworks.

Xboxyde

New! Images of Call of Duty 3

Activision releases some new X360 and PS3 images of COD 3. Of course, the two versions look exactly the same, and the game itself looks like its predecessor.

Xboxyde

Internal HD-DVD Drive for Xbox 360 Rumor Debunked AGAIN

The latest "internal HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360" rumor has now been officially denied by Tony Hynes of the Xbox Marketing team. What is this - the third or fourth time they've needed to do so? Naughty Digitimes for starting this up again....

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1-Minute Update: Solid Q & A After Nintendo's Wii Event

We knew about the pricing for the Wii, and the release date, late last night. So Nintendo's press event today had a lot of the wind taken outta its sails. But the event just ended, and Kotaku just finished typing up the post powerpoint Q&A. Then homeboy, Joel "JJ" Johnson diggs deeper in a Wired blog post. That's despite some sort of accident with his zippo and meat-cigar. (No meat cigar in the post, but knowing Joel, it's safe to assume.)

Gizmodo

Very Cool RSS Content Reader for 360!

"XB Stream automatically downloads and converts RSS content feeds into images that can be viewed from the Media>Pictures>Computer blade and hear audio podcasts/blogcasts from the Media>Music>Computer blade. Content feeds are automatically managed by the software so you are always given fresh feeds, and older feeds are automatically deleted." -Cool!

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Entire Nintendo press website password

Working on the story submitted earlier, I tried user name: "guest", password: "nintendo" and it also worked to enter the press site for all of Nintendo.com. Enjoy!

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NHL 07: New Faces, New Places Video

In stores just in time for the opening of NHL training camps, NHL 07 allows players to feel like they can play like a pro without ever touching the ice.

TeamXbox

World Cyber Games US National Final This Weekend! - Xbox

They’ve got furious fingers and laser-focused eyes, which is why the nearly 150 PC and videogame players coming to Las Vegas this weekend are the nation’s best. They will meet at the Aladdin Hotel to battle for a coveted spot on Team USA, which will travel to Italy in October for the international World Cyber Games Grand Final. There, Team USA will defend its title as overall champions against 700 gamers from 70 countries. With their reputations and big cash prizes on the line, it’s sure to be an action-packed weekend.

TeamXbox