The man who was in charge of deciding who should live and who should die (in the world of Xbox Live gamertags, that is) has stepped down from his position after nearly 18 years at Microsoft. Stephen Toulouse will no longer be the Xbox Live policy and enforcement director. Toulouse was responsible for making sure Xbox Live users has a safe and friendly experience, but was known more in the public eye for his reactions to some of the more bizarre Xbox Live user issues.
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‘Xbox LIVE’ Stories
Microsoft’s ‘Xbox Live cop’ has resigned
Bioware’s Mass Effect 3 demo includes Xbox Live Gold trial
If you download the Mass Effect 3 demo for Xbox 360 on its Valentine's Day launch day, you'll get a free month of Xbox Live Gold. That isn't because Microsoft and Bioware are feeling generous; it's because of the somewhat ridiculous restriction that prevents non-Gold members from playing online games. And as anyone who knows Mass Effect knows, if you want to show the best content, you need to try the online multiplayer.
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Apple grabs Xbox LIVE chief for App Store marketing
Apple has poached another Microsoft exec, with ex-Xbox LIVE chief Robin Burrowes jumping to the Cupertino company where he will lead App Store marketing in Europe. Burrowes spent seven years in the Xbox division, MCV reports, and before that worked for MSN and media retailer HMV.
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Harmonix game in the works for Xbox Live, PSN, and Facebook?
The guys at Harmonix are fairly occupied working on continuous downloadable content for Dance Central, but apparently there is something else in the works for the music game moguls. Brian Chan, who was the senior designer for Rock Band 3, has mentioned on his own public resume that he has begun working on a new Harmonix project, but nothing matching his description has yet been announced by the video game company.
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Microsoft likely to bring Xbox Live to Android and iOS
The Xbox 360 is well on its way to becoming an all-encompassing entertainment hub. From live TV to on-demand streaming, to social networking and music, Microsoft's strategy is clearly to make Xbox a central part of your life. And now it's looking to continue that mindset even when you're not at home. Yep, it's time for Microsoft's gaming platform to be fully immersed in the mobile world.
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Micorosft reportedly ditching Microsoft Points in favor of real currency
If you still can't figure how much that Zune download or Call of Duty map pack costs in actual US currency, there might be some hope for you. It's being reported that Microsoft wants to nix its Microsoft Points platform and will start showing prices in local currency for digital content. That's right; the days of consulting a calculator to figure out how much digital money you have might soon be coming to an end.
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Kinect HD set-top box tipped for Xbox LIVE TV plans
Microsoft’s Xbox TV plans continue to trickle out, with talk of a Kinect-based set-top box for 2012 that would offer streaming multimedia content with a voice and motion controlled UI and sub-$200 price tag. Variously codenamed “Live Xbox”, “Kinect Box” and “Kinect HD”, the new STB will resemble a low-profile version of the existing Kinect, The Daily‘s sources suggest, with a larger base to accommodate power, HDMI and USB ports. Availability has been “pushed back” it’s said, from an original early-2012 window, though it should arrive prior to the next-gen “Xbox 720.”
Microsoft’s online TV subscription plan on hold
Microsoft's plans to attack cable TV with its own online TV subscription service may be on hold, according to sources familiar with the situation. According to Reuters, Microsoft has been in intense discussions with media companies, seeking potential program partners for over a year and hoping to launch its subscription service within the next few months. However, those plans are now on hold due to high licensing costs.
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Microsoft eyeing Xbox LIVE gaming on iOS and Android
Microsoft is looking to extend Xbox LIVE to iOS and potentially Android and other platforms, according to a new job listing at the company, extending the company’s gaming reach beyond its current Windows Phone focus. The posting, spotted by LiveSide, calls for a software development engineer to ”define, design and implement Xbox LIVE mobile experiences on Windows Phone, iOS and other platforms” with the potential for location-based gaming, social networking-enabled titles and more.
Microsoft’s Xbox Live gets new TV channels
Microsoft has announced that it is adding eight new TV channels to Xbox LIVE. The Xbox Dashboard recently got an overhaul with a new more Metro-styled interface along with the addition of new content and video services. The addition today is part of Microsoft's plan to challenge cable TV and includes localized TV channels for both the US and Europe.
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Windows Phone execs keep shuffling: App Store merge mulled
Microsoft's Windows Phone team has lost another top-tier exec, as the company's General Manager for Developer and Marketplace, Matt Bencke, has been quietly moved to the Xbox LIVE team. Bencke's role changed at the end of November, ZDNet's sources claim, preceding Windows Phone chief Andy Lees being apparently "benched" for over-promising and under-delivering; the shift could be a sign that Microsoft is looking to move Windows Phone - or its marketing, at least - into the Windows division.
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Xbox design chief replaced ahead of 2013 “Xbox 720″
Microsoft is believed to have replaced the design architect responsible for the Xbox 360 user-experience, Dan Coyner, an acolyte of Apple-style consistency in user experience and a mainstay of the gaming project since its inception. Coyner, general manager of Design and Planning within the Xbox team, has been replaced with Emma Williams, CNET's sources claim, who led this month's Xbox dashboard update.
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