Major Nelson takes a look at the revamped Xbox Live Marketplace (which is a little like "Action Figure Man: the How to Buy Action Figure Man episode" from The Simpsons) and of course concludes that it's awesome. You can compare the two "experiences" with the images above (bigger on the jump) and more on Hryb's flickr account. For those not necessarily wondering how streamlined their buying experience will be, just when it's all over with, he says "The New Xbox Experience will ship later this year. As in before the New Year." No real news there, but it's nice to have his personal assurance.

Read More »

Battlefield: Bad Company is getting four free multiplayer maps in the next month. That comes from Major Nelson's latest podcast "blogcast." The tidbit is in a 10-minute discussion with Gordon Van Dyke of developer DICE.

The maps are converted single player levels from the game's campaign mode, tuned up for conquest mode, Gordon says.

The rest of the zunecast "blogcast" deals with the GTA IV Live Weekend (about to expire) and about 30 minutes of major Zune pimpage, including a not-so-arch remark about how well it works with the 360 and how "other devices" don't because they "changed their protocol." Who knows, maybe all this cross-marketing is Microsoft tipping its hand toward bringing Zune Marketplace to Xbox Live. Remember, both services are down at the same time, beginning at 12:01 a.m. PDT tomorrow.

Show #294 [Major Nelson, thanks Nathaniel V.]

The big lure of Fable II Pub Games is that you get a two months head start to pile up gold before the game drops. The big drawback is that it's gambling, not a Pell grant, so you could wind up in the hole when the game drops Oct. 21. Larry Hyrb is -- sorta.

Seems the Xbox Live programming director left himself signed in and his wife got a hold of the game under his tag. He popped in the door to find her in full gambling-problem mode, which is to say distant, uncommunicative, unconcerned and four figures to the bad, on his account.

Read More »

Fans hoping to get into EA's celebration of all things Madden at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California this Monday have pretty limited options when it comes to scoring entry into the event. They can either win tickets via local Southern California radio stations, or stand in line and hope they're one of the first 1,00 people there. Xbox Live's Larry Hryb offers gamers a third option for acquiring Maddenpalooza tickets - email him!

EA has hooked the Major up with 25 pairs of tickets, which he will award randomly to folks who email him between now and 9AM Pacific time tomorrow. He'll notify winners tomorrow afternoon, giving you a good four days to figure out how the hell you're going to make it to Pasadena in time. PROTIP - If you live in Pasadena, don't move.

I've got your tickets to the Maddenpalooza event in Pasadena [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]

Xbox Live's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb has set up an E3-devoted hub with an ongoing blog and video already available to track the adventures of the Xbox 360 at the event. So if you like your E3 coverage with a decidedly Microsoft slant, you can check it out.

Says Major Nelson:

Major Nelson is already lining up exclusive interviews with bigwig industry insiders and TriXie will undoubtedly try to crash a few VIP parties. Video Monkey is ready to bring you the sights and sounds of the show, and our intrepid Inside Xbox game gurus (Ryan and Denny of This Week in Xbox) will be grabbing as many controllers as they can for hands-on impressions of all the hot games. On top of that, look for detailed coverage of the press briefings, exciting new game trailers, and sweeping panoramas from the show floor.

There're plenty of pre-hype vids available already.

[Xbox.com E3 2008]

Yesterday we mentioned rumours of a potential Microsoft Japan announcement coming next week, but on Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb's Twitter account, he teases "a special" show coming mid-week that, we'd expect, would feature some fun Microsoft announcement or another. So it looks like either one or two announcements are on the horizon. Any gambling types sitting in the audience who'd care to place some wagers*?

*Kotaku does not condone illegal gambling. Luckily we're writing this post from a boat amidst hands of blackjack.

Major Nelson [Twitter] Thanks Master Devwi!

A few days ago we ran this video, showing clips from 11 different gay-bashing Halo 3 matches. Microsoft's own Major Nelson wrote GayGamer, who originally covered the story, with this response:

I just watched (listened) to the video you posted on your site. Needless to say, it was disappointing to see how some Xbox LIVE members behave. As you know, that is not the type of behaviour we support. With over 8-million members, it's unfortunate that some members decide to act like this. I want to point out a few things that ALL Xbox Live members can do to ensure a enjoyable experience:

Read More »

OK, we lied. Major Nelson made no online warnings about drug use, but he did issue a very stern warning against sharing Xbox Live accounts and/or cheating to increase one's Gamerscore. Sharing accounts is the worst violation, destroying your Gamertag and affiliated points and purchases forever. Cheating through game save hacks or "nefarious techniques" won't get you banned, but it may get your Gamerscore deleted.

But the real reason not to cheat on Live or with game saves is that it makes you a douchebag. And the real reason not to share your account is that it hurts Microsoft starving babies and/or your parents' credit.

Xbox LIVE account sharing and Gamesave tampering (don't do it) [majornelson]

Microsoft's Larry Hryb (above) chats with CheapyD in a recent CAG podcast. Highlights:
• Larry owns his popular community "bridge" site.
• There is a 100 friend limit on XBL is set in the system and cannot be increased. The average of number of friends for XBL users is 24. There are plans to better manage your friend's list.
• About his missing passport: "I was soooo upset I couldn't go to sumo with CheapyD... More importantly you had Crecente fill in my role at sumu." Yes, sumu.
• Larry says "vagina clown". Out loud. At least twice.
Listen to Larry [CAG]

Man do I feel bad for Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb right now. Seems he was all set for his flight to Tokyo to attend TGS when he discovered his passport was missing. No passport equals no Tokyo, and as anyone who has ever tried can attest, getting a replacement passport on short notice is no easy task. Thankfully both TriXie and VideoMonkey will be there to cover the event for Xbox.com, but Larry will be heading back to Seattle tomorrow to spend the week catching up on work.

As a public service, I offer this advice: Be very careful with your Passport. And go make a photocopy of it right now and keep it in a safe place so you can have all the details handy if you need to get a replacement.

Major Nelson grounded [Major Nelson's Blog - Thanks Ben]