Looks like the XBMC site has done a little redecorating and i must say it looks good.



To go with the new look it wold seem thay went from a .com to a .org as thay state here, "This brand new website has been developed by Granqvist and co-developed by DarkDonno. Chokemaniac made the graphics.
It's been in development for 2 years, and it's "mostly" finished. Much content is unpolished, incidentally this was why we requested a 'content master' a while back, but we never got a suitable candidate for the job. This position is still very much unfilled.

We will also use a new domain from now on, XBMC.ORG which we got from our french teammember Modhack (he's now relocated to XBMC.FR).
Please don't try and use XBMC.COM as this domain is owned by none other than Randy Saaf of MediaDefender (!).
Our old domain xboxmediacenter.com will continue to function, and emails will arrive regardless of used domain.

If you want to help this site by filling it with uptodate content, contact one of the Projectmanagers."

Its good to know even with the lack of any xbox games being made thay plan to keep working on the XBMC project and are even working on XBMC for Mac OS X, XBMC for Linux.

"Hardly encouraging good social values" says Vaz

Rockstar is moving ahead with plans to release Bully: The Scholarship Edition in the UK despite a call for a ban on the game.

According to a Telegraph article, the PC World and Currys chain has decided not to stock the game.

"We don't think this is suitable for sale in our stores," said a company spokesperson. "We are careful about what we sell and this is something we have decided not to list."

The original Bully was released for the PS2 in the UK under the title Canis Canem Edit - Latin for "dog eats dog." The new version, for the Xbox 360 and Wii, will revert to the original name.

The National Union of Teachers has called for a ban on the game due to concern over bullying in schools.

"The dialogue about the pernicious effects of bullying appears to have been ignored," general secretary Steve Sinnott told The Telegraph. "It is an encouragement to violence and intimidation, and those things have a major impact on schools."

Niall Cowley, of the charity BeatBullying, was disappointed that the game was created in the first place.

"Some mindless people thought this was a fun, interesting piece of software to create, but it undermines all the hard work that organisations like ours are seeking to do," said Cowley.
Labour MP Keith Vaz also weighed in on the controversy.

"The idea that people should be glorifying bullying is just tasteless," he said.
"It is hardly encouraging good social values for our children. Just the name Bully is going to attract young people to buy it."

A Rockstar spokesman responded to controversy over the game, which will be rated for ages 15 and up, by pointing out that it is not a game about playing a bully.

"It is about the trials and tribulations of a boy in his first year at school. He protects children against other characters. People have to be able to make their own decisions and to judge for themselves, with an open mind."

News-Source: GameIndustry

Mega game Halo 3 has crushed, blowed up and generally mashed-out all competing games for 2007, outselling Wii Play, Call of Duty 4, and Guitar Hero 3. Even the mighty Carnival Games for the Wii was outsold.

According to industry analysts at the NPD group, here's how it all went down:

Halo 3 (Xbox 360) - 4,820,000
Wii Play with Remote (Wii) - 4,120,000
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) - 3,040,000
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) - 2,720,000
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - 2,520,000
Pokemon Diamond (DS) - 2,480,000
Madden NFL 08 (PS2) - 1,900,000
Guitar Hero II (PS2) - 1,890,000
Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360) - 1,870,000
Mario Party 8 (Wii) - 1,820,000

News-Source: G4TV-TheFeed

We received NPD's 2007 U.S. video game industry sales report less than an hour ago and it took Microsoft only a few minutes to send their comments on the subject:

Xbox 360 Drives the Video Game Console Industry in 2007: NPD data released today confirms consumers spent more dollars on Xbox 360 in 2007, with more than $13.7 billion in total consumer spending. Xbox 360 won 2007 with $4.8 billion in total consumer spend compared to Wii with $3.5 billion and PlayStation 3 with $2.2 billion. This wraps up a historic year, with NPD reporting consumers have spent nearly 45 percent of total industry figures on Xbox 360.

Here is a quick snapshot of what is driving revenue for Xbox 360, based on the latest reports from NPD and Microsoft data:

XBOX 360 WIDENS THE GAP OVER PS3 WITH CONSOLE SALES: According to NPD, Xbox 360 sold 1.3 million consoles in December alone, and has steadily widened the gap between Sony’s PlayStation 3 console sales. In December, NPD stated that Sony sold 798,000 PS3 hardware units. Since PS3’s launch in November 2006, Xbox 360 has outsold PS3 by nearly 2:1 on average, bringing a total U.S. Xbox 360 install base of 9.2 million consoles, compared to and installed base of 7.4 million Wii consoles and 3.3 million PS3 consoles.

GAMES DRIVE INDUSTRY GROWTH: Xbox 360 robust games portfolio spans across the highest-ranked AAA titles to the largest collection of “Everyone” and “Teen” rated games. According to NPD, of the top 20 best-selling titles in 2007 for this generation, 11 were on Xbox 360; while only seven were sold on the Wii and two sold on the PS3.

NPD reported that this holiday’s leading multiplatform blockbusters continue to sell better on Xbox 360:

“Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” for Xbox 360 was the leading game last month with 1.5 million copies sold, outselling the PS3 version nearly 3:1.
“Assassin’s Creed” for Xbox 360 was the fourth best selling title, having sold 894,000 units. It outsold the PS3 version more than 2:1.
“Guitar Hero III” outsold the PS3 nearly 2:1, having sold 625,000 copies.
“Rockband” continues to rock the charts, selling 463,000 units for the Xbox 360 platform, compared to 174,000 units for the PS3
To date, 33 third party games on Xbox 360 hit the top 10 list across all consoles compared to five third party games on PS3, and four on Wii. These results confirm that third party partners create better games and reap more sales on Xbox 360 than any other platform.
In its fourth month on the market, Halo 3 continued its strong performance and was the sixth best selling title in December, selling another 742,000. In 2007, NPD projects that Halo 3 has sold 4.8 million units in the U.S. since its launch in September.
Xbox 360 continues to lead in number of games sold per console, setting another record with an attach rate of 7.0 games per console.

XBOX LIVE SETS NEW HEIGHTS: Xbox LIVE’s network is 10 million members strong and growing, achieving membership goals six months ahead of schedule. Only on Xbox LIVE can members experience the largest catalog of on-demand, high-definition content in the U.S., including movies and television shows from our most recent partners: Disney-ABC Television Group and MGM Studios.

We’re not slowing down in 2008. The next versions of powerhouse franchises like “Grand Theft Auto,” “Resident Evil” and sports games like “Madden”, “FIFA”, and “Pro Evolution Soccer” open up a new arena for game play on Xbox 360. This year we will make great strides toward improving our brand appeal to consumers interested in more physical game play. With titles like “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock,” “Rock Band” and “Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action” we’re creating interactive experiences on Xbox 360 for the entire family.

News-Source: TeamXbox