Xbox Live's Major Nelson : Show #221 The one about the new dashboard features, GH II and how you can win an Elite

"This week’s show:
Xbox news
I talk about the GH II event in NYC and DLC
Interview: Jerry J talks about the new Dashboard Features
Interview: Jeremy Stieglitz on Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia (free Demo now on Xbox Live)
Interview: TriXie tells you how you can win an Xbox 360 Elite
Name the Game
Xbox 101
I tell you what gadget I bought this week that I hate
…and who knows what else?"

Trade ups to be available for the Elite?

Ever since it was announced, the Elite has been surrounded by controversy. Many declared it outrageous that after one and a half years, there was already a new, technically superior model available, and demanded that they could trade in their current 360 and get a certain amount of money off the Elite. Well whingers people, your dreams could well have come true. QJ.net received a tip off from an apparent EB Games manager saying the flyers were already with him.

Someone under the alias of Kaiser_911 had this to say:

Its me again, Kaizer_911 an EB Games Manager…not sure when the promotion starts but we got the flyers and materials a few days ago in our marketing update…there is going to be Elite trade-in/up promotions…trade in a working 360 Pro towards an elite and you get 250 off, trade in a working 360 core and get 200 off, trade in a regular xbox towards an elite and get 90 off. Once again not sure when this starts but I would imagine once the systems hit store shelves.

The deal DOES not work with pre-orders because the company is NOT taking pre-orders on the Elite. The company says they won’t take pre-orders on the because for one, the allocation is going to be VERY tight….maybe only 2-4 units per store at launch and two, just to see exactly how badly people want this new unit. Thanks.

Forza 2 demo will feature 24 different cars

We knew a Forza 2 demo was coming to the Marketplace in April, but have been left in the dark to what exactly will be included. In Friday's Pit Pass the Turn 10 team revealed that the April demo is being developed alongside the actual game and will include 24 different cars from various car classes. What will be missing is any sort of online multiplayer or customization, features you'll only get with a $60 purchase. The Pit Pass also hints at in-game video footage that will be making its way through the inter-tubes sometime this week from two different media sources. And, for all you crazy car audio fans out there, you'll be pleased to know that Forza 2's dev team has gone above and beyond. Seriously, listen to this stuff from the game. It's like heaven, but in audio form.

With Forza 2's release creeping closer and closer be prepared for one crazy media blowout. Grab your steering wheels with an iron grip, because it's going to get exciting.

Guitar Hero 2 whammy bar patch breaks Xbox 360s

Apparently the just release patch to fix the wonky whammy bar in the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero 2 has introduced a large number of repetitive crashes to the people who have installed it. The only solution so far seems to be to RMA the system to Microsoft.



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ben heck's ps360 sixaxis controller

Console modder god Benjamin Heckendorn is at it again. He's combined the case of an Xbox 360 wireless controller with the guts of a Sony PS3 SIXAXIS controller to give birth to this oddity, striking fear into the hearts of 360 fanboys everywhere



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Eidos CFO: PS3 to Catch Up Xbox 360 User Base Next April

Eidos chief financial officer Rob Murphy told MCV that the publisher is looking for PS3 to reach or surpass the current Xbox 360 install base by April next year.

"We have absolutely no doubt that PS3 will be a very successful platform and we’re completely behind it," said Murphy. "Ideally, we would like to have a market that is a worldwide installed base of eight to ten million PS3 units by the time we bring out our big products. But we’ll have to assess how that moves."

"We will have some PS3 products over the coming months, but we’re holding back our major top line products until this time next year."