My Game Center

Hulu plus has long been missing from the Wii leaving Netflix as the only major streaming service on the gaming console. But that changes soon. Nintendo just announced that Hulu plus will soon be available on both the Wii and the 3DS. the exact launch data wasn’t announced, but the release states that that the service will hit “both systems by the end of the year.”

This comes as Nintendo is prepping for the next generation Wii, the Wii U. But that system isn’t going to launch for months and Nintendo still has to move Wii units while fighting off the 360 and PS3. Adding a major new streaming service like Hulu plus will certainly keep some owners happy.

The Hulu plus service costs $7.99 a month and opens access to content from ABC, NBC, Fox, Comedy Central, MTV and more. the service is often criticized for having a limited selection but more content is constantly being added. between Netflix and now Hulu plus, the Wii’s streaming lineup will be rather complete but still not has robust as the PS3 and Xbox 360, which got into the streaming game a lot earlier. Nintendo isn’t moving slowly again.

Neflix was already announced for the 3DS. now, with Hulu plus, the 3DS has an early lead on the PS Vita, which doesn’t have any 3rd party streaming support yet. Netflix or anyone else has yet to announce support for Sony’s next-gen portable, leaving some wondering if it will ever come. Nintendo, however, has both Netflix and soon Hulu plus streaming to its portable system, which might help the company move several more units.

A lot of people are questioning when we’re going to see the next home consoles from Microsoft and Sony, but along with Bioshock creator, Ken Levine, Gears of War lead designer Cliff Bleszinski believes that there’s still plenty more to come from this generation, and all it takes is a bit of coding,  magic and time.

“with creative programming you can squeeze anything out of any given platform,” Bleszinski told Edge Magazine. “Go back to the demo scene where these guys would take a 286 PC and in 38k make a demo that rivalled the most triple-A game of the time. ”

“It’s just a matter of code magic, time and effort. I don’t know how much longer the 360 will be around, but I’m sure that if we have a product coming out before the end of [its] lifecycle we’ll continue to try and squeeze more water from that stone.”

Still, the designer admits that he had to tinker with the current Xbox 360 hardware to finish his latest game, Gears of War 3.

“We’re now at the point where it’s not learning how to use the hardware, it’s learning to trick the hardware into doing what you want it to do,” he explained. “the first thing I was ecstatic about was the new lighting…we’re at the point where an artist can just let the lighting breathe, a nice brick wall can just be a nice brick wall; it doesn’t need 8000 pipes layered on it.”

A slew of Xbox Live users are reporting that their accounts have been hacked and used to purchase content for either FIFA Soccer 11 or FIFA Soccer 12. Microsoft has responded, rather slowly, to these reports by locking down affected Live accounts for as many as 25 days to investigate the fraudulent activity.

One gamer blogged his story of his hacked account and his interactions with Microsoft trying to revolve the issue.

“sure enough, all of the Microsoft points that were stored in my XBL account had been spent on in game items for FIFA 11(I don’t own that game… hell, I don’t even like soccer video games) and whoever spent my MS points had then tried to purchase more. Presumably, when that purchase failed, they abandoned my account and went on to steal from some other unsuspecting gamer.”

A Reddit thread was also started by another gamer to voice his frustration with Microsoft’s slowness to respond to accounts of hacking.

In all of these accounts the story is largely the same. a Xbox Live user will find a bunch of fraudulent FIFA 11 or FIFA 12 purchases on their account via email confirmations of purchases, missing Microsoft Points, or charges to their credit card. When those users contact Microsoft about the issue their account is locked down so Microsoft can investigate. Microsoft claims it takes 25 days to investigate a claim like this and they need the credit card information on file with the account to remain there for the duration of the investigation.

Neither Microsoft nor FIFA publisher EA is taking responsibility for a security breach. Microsoft responded to Ars Technica’s request for comment by issuing the following statement,

“We do not have any evidence the Xbox LIVE service has been compromised. we take the security of our service seriously and work on an ongoing basis to improve it against evolving threats. however, a limited number of members have contacted us regarding unauthorized access to their accounts by outside individuals. we are working with our impacted members directly to resolve any unauthorized changes to their accounts. as always, we highly recommend our members follow the Xbox LIVE Account Security guidance provided at xbox.com/security to protect your account.”

While it is possible that Microsoft or EA isn’t having a security issue, the account information is coming from somewhere. It’s possible the hackers are reusing login information obtained from another database. The real issue isn’t how the hackers are getting login information but instead how Microsoft is handling it. taking 25 days to investigate a claim like this when a large number of users are reporting the same problem is excessive. Even more annoying is the fact that getting a credit card off your Xbox Live account requires a call to Microsoft instead of a few simple clicks on the account management web page.

There needs to be an easier way to get credit card information off your Xbox Live account and a faster process for investigating claims like this. Waiting nearly a month to get resolution on fraudulent charges is insane. was your account hacked for FIFA downloads? if it was tell us your story in the comments including how your interactions with Microsoft went down.

Electronic Arts’ sales of FIFA series of video games on gaming consoles such as the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii have been increasing steadily by our estimates.

The company launched FIFA 12 last month that hit a record by selling 3.2 million units across all consoles worldwide in less than a week after launch, by their own estimates. [1]

Looking at these numbers, it looks like FIFA 12 will easily be able to surpass FIFA 11 sales, something we discussed in a previous note, “FIFA Soccer 12 Can be bigger Than Fifa 11 For EA.” the growing market for sports genre video games will continue to benefit Electronic Arts in the future.

EA’s main competitors include game developers like Activision Blizzard, Take-Two Interactive Software and casual gaming mainstays such as Zynga and Playdom.

See our complete analysis for Electronic Arts’s stock.

FIFA 12 Sets Historic Record

Electronic Arts has sold an estimated 3.2 million units of FIFA 12 within the first week from its 27 September launch, which the company estimates is an increase by 23% over last year’s record launch. [1]

With astounding features such as Impact Engine, Tactical Defending, Precision Dribbling and the all new EA Sports Football Club and rapidly increasing orders, FIFA 12 could become one of the highest selling franchise game in history for Electronic Arts, beating FIFA 11.

The game has received rave reviews and ratings by critics and news publications like 1UP, USA Today, GamePro and the Guardian. While Gamescom calls it “Best Console Game,” it has also received the prestigious E3 Game Critics award for “best Sports Game” at E3 2011.

Growth in Sports Video Game Genre

According to a report by the Entertainment Software Association, video gaming demographic is becoming more diverse, with people of different ages and gender being attracted to video games. the report also suggests that the sports games constitutes 16.3%, which is the highest, of all video gaming genres in 2010. [2]

This growth in sports genre will particularly benefit EA as the company makes sizable revenues from sales of sports-related video games like Madden NFL, FIFA Soccer and need for Speed.

While we estimate Electronic Arts’ sales of FIFA soccer video games will increase from 11.8 million in 2011 to around 12.5 million by the end of our forecast period, Trefis members expect an increase from around 13 million to 15 million during the same period.

Improvements to the Xbox 360 have apparently cut down on the number of “red ring of death” reports, but the console still requires more repairs than its competitors, according to data from PCMag’s Readers’ Choice Awards.

Approximately 10 percent of those polled for the survey reported having to take their Xbox 360 in for repairs over the last year, which was twice the rate of its competitors. however, that was a significant improvement over last year, when that number was 23 percent.

Many Xbox users are familiar with the console’s “red ring of death,” which replaced the glowing green center on the device’s power button when the Xbox was on its last legs. Last year, former PCMag Editor Lance Ulanoff experienced the phenomenon after his son completed a Red Dead Redemption marathon on his Xbox 360. Though some Twitter users helpfully suggested that placing it in the freezer for a few minutes would solve the problem (really), he opted to send it in for repairs.

Last year, Microsoft unveiled a “slim” version of its Xbox 360 console at E3, which featured a redesigned case with a bit more ventilation than the original console. It included built-in 802.11n networking and a 250GB hard drive for $299.

Did the revamped console help solve some of those “red ring” problems? according to recent stats, the Xbox console continues to fly off the shelves. Microsoft sold 438,000 Xbox 360 consoles in September for 42 percent of the market, according to NPD Group. in total, consumers spent $534 million on Xbox hardware, software, and accessories during the month, which Microsoft said was twice the amount for its nearest competitor.

Nintendo sold 240,000 Wii systems last month and 145,000 Nintendo DS devices.

Helping boost those sales is the motion-controlled Kinect sensor, which debuted in November 2010. PCMag found that overall satisfaction with the Xbox 360 jumped from 8.1 in 2010 to 8.6 this year out of a possible 10, with the platform’s “fun” rating increasing from 8.8 last year to 9.1.

Yesterday, Microsoft said its Kinect SDK for PCs, which will allow developers to create new uses for the motion-based system beyond gaming, will be available early next year.

For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.

For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.

Halo: Reach is a first person shooting game and is the newest version of Halo game title launched for Xbox 360 gaming console. With that so many things improved from the previous versions, Halo: Reach game came up with so many great things to enjoy. you can still count on this new Halo version for the high quality shooting game experience to satisfy all your shooting gaming tastes. It is all about the hi-tech gaming quality you can find here, which even some issues whispered about the upcoming presence of Halo 3D game version to provide you highest game quality you will ever have. Well, you should go around for more information about it.

So, at Halo Reach you’ll still find strange world to explore and conquer in along the way. Set on year 2552 where world is completely different and humanity is trapped in a war with alien. Once again you’ll have awesome missions to be accomplished and as what many had tried this new game, some consider this new version as the most exciting version to play, even compared with Halo 3 where many gamers agreed this game is the top game of the year. The missions were also well arranged to satisfy your hunger of some actions, high quality game play, and exciting storyline. some features added and some are missed on this Halo Reach version, but still you will find it an awesome option of game you have to try or you will miss the best part of Halo franchise.

Out from the technical aspects of the game, the latest market news stated that Halo Reach had successfully to produce amazing profit of about US$200 Million only the first day of its launch. and considering that there are still some countries where the game is about to be launched, it is undeniable that Halo Reach claimed had setting a new record for the franchise. what a nice sale. and this is quite reasonable though especially with that so many people out there being fans of Halo versions previously. So, with millions of people in around the world are waiting for the upcoming next Halo version, everything is got easier for Halo Reach to record such an amazing profit in a day. Even with minimum marketing campaign, anyone in the gaming industry knows about the Halo: Reach launch day and get excited about it.

And if you’re one of those who really love playing Halo 3 or any other versions; now the time has come for you to get prepared for another new adventure to explore. Go to the local game stores to check Halo Reach game, and if it appears that it is hard to find it locally, then considering going would be a good idea. Various top online stores would likely to help you on this situation though, along with also chance for some discounts so you can save lots of your money purchasing Halo Reach online. there is nothing can stop you getting the Halo: Reach game and to play it sooner, so just give those online stores a try for amazing deals you may lucky enough to have.

Kinect sports games are a number of interactive games that also give a lot of exercise. using Xbox Kinect, you cold transform your living area into a seat of activity with events of track and field, soccer events and an alley for bowling, boxing, table tennis and volleyball. This is unlike anything developed before and you can even use topspin with it.

The Kinect games are fun, intuitive and are one of the best entertainment options for family or friend get-togethers. even if you are not going or a goal and are simply receiving a thumping within the ring, it is totally your sole choice. besides, it is also a great enjoyment to watch the Kinect games being played by others.

Xbox Kinect offers a total of six fun activities- for individual players and teams. These include activities such as table tennis, soccer, boxing, beach volleyball, bowling and track and field events. All of these activities provide a lot of new challenges to the players. it won’t be long before you will find yourself deeply absorbed into the game due to its intuitiveness and interest.

The Kinect games provide numerous activities for single players, coming with varying levels of hardness to challenge your gaming skills. You could also switch over to the party mode, where you can play against a friend or form a team of your own. it places a personal avatar of you in the spotlight. This also attracts a lot of interest of the press and the accolades of the members of one’s team. Your avatar can be decorated by you with medals and honors to commemorate your victories.

Many people have claimed Xbox Kinect to be the most fun game they have played on an Xbox 360. every family who has played it has been in a state of hysteria and was left overjoyed at the end of it.

The Toyota Prius and Chevy Volt go toe to toe in the Burmese Alps. this could only happen in a racing game.

(Credit:Screenshot by Antuan Goodwin/CNET)

I’m a huge fan ofcars and a huge fan of video games. so it should go without saying that I spend a lot of time playing racing games. I was a bit late to the Forza Motorsport party, having spent a number of years as a faithful fan of the Gran Turismo franchise. However, last year I got hooked on Forza Motorsport 3 for theXbox 360. recently, I was slipped an early copy of Forza Motorsport 4, the next iteration of Turn 10′s racing series promising more cars, more tracks, higher levels of realism, and, hopefully, more fun.

Like most Xbox 360 console games, Forza doesn’t require installation to play. However, if you want to gain access to the widest variety of cars, you will want to install the data on the game’s second disc. while you’re at it, go ahead and also install the data on the first disc to speed up your load times between races. Fortunately, the installation is relatively quick and painless, but owners of Xbox 360s without hard drives won’t be able to take advantage of this functionality.

Firing up Forza’s World Tour mode for the first time, I was immediately transported behind the wheel of a borrowed Ferrari 458 Italia for the first race. this sort of over-the-top first race is something of a racing game trope. And like most racing games, once you’ve finished that first race behind the wheel of a supercar, Forza asks you to work your way back up from the bottom of the automotive totem pole and choose the first car for your garage. I chose a pink 2011 Chevrolet Spark.

Every race that you win nets you experience points and credits. Credits can be used to buy new cars and upgrades. Points count toward increasing your numerical driver level, and with each increase in level, you’ll be awarded a shiny, new free car for your virtual garage. Within a few surprisingly hair-raising races, I’d added a 2011 Mazda2 to my stable. Within the hour, the 1994 Mazda MX-5 Miata was mine.

If you want pink rims and crazy sticker-bombing on your racing Miata, you can have that.

(Credit:Screenshot by Antuan Goodwin/CNET)

That ’94 Miata would also be my first foray into the world of upgrades and tuning, as Forza 4 offers a veritable smorgasbord of suspension, power, and aerodynamic upgrades for you to improve (or totally futz up) your car’s performance. the MX-5 Miata was one of my favorite tuner cars in the previous iteration of the Forza franchise. However, although Forza 4 offers a profile import function for legacy profiles, it doesn’t offer a vehicle or vehicle tune import function that I was able to locate. this meant that I was back to square one, choosing upgrades and tweaking settings. Fortunately, tuning is one of my favorite parts of a good racing sim, so I didn’t mind spending hours perfecting everything from the performance and paint scheme, to the stickers and graphics on my ride.

With a few more races in my rearview, I came across the first of Forza’s many “Top Gear” events (based on the popular automotive show): top Gear Bowling. in this event, I was tasked with knocking over enlarged bowling pins while piloting my vehicle around top Gear’s test track. Eventually, I would be asked to make a fast lap in the show’s reasonably Priced Car, the Kia Cee’d, and take part in a massive game of car soccer.

“Top Gear” events keep things interesting, but the bulk of Forza 4′s races are standard-fare races to a finish line. Forza 4 borrows need for Speed: Shift’s corner-mastery system, which rewards drivers for perfecting the entry, apex, and exit of the various corners of each tracks, but ups the ante by giving a score of 1 to 4 for each bend rather than Shift’s yes or no score. the whole mastery system is unobtrusive (displaying as a tiny pop-up on the HUD while you drive). However, it’s so unobtrusive that it’s easy to just forget that it’s even there in the first place.

Within a few hours of tuning, bowling, and (most importantly) racing, I’d won my first championship and was asked make the tough choice of selecting my prize from a ’69 Nissan Fairlady Z, a ’65 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA Stradale, a ’73 BMW 2002 Turbo, a ’71 Lotus Elan Sport, or a ’71 Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R. After about 10 minutes of deliberation, I settled on the Skyline.

From Japanese micro cars to classic American muscle, the vehicles of Forza 4 run the gamut.

(Credit:Turn 10 Studios)

Forza’s selection of vehicles still pales in comparison to Gran Turismo 5′s roster. on the other hand, one could argue that Forza’s selection is more streamlined. you won’t find 15 different Lancer Evolution variants in this game, but do you really need that many?

In addition to racing and tuning, Forza 4 also offers seriously granular photo and replay modes that allow players to capture still images and video of their rides to share with other players on the in-game Storefront or on Forzamotorsport.net. There’s also the Autovista mode that allows users to get a look around and inside of a selection of premium cars (such as the Ferrari 458 Italia, Lamborghini Reventon, or Delorean DMC-12 with detailed engines, interiors, and moving doors and hoods. each premium vehicle features about a half dozen bits of spoken audio commentary from Turn 10′s announcer and one extended commentary read by “Top Gear’s” Jeremy Clarkson.

The whole deal is wildly addictive for car lovers. I cracked open Forza Motorsport 4 at about 7 p.m., but it wasn’t until 5 a.m. that I finally shut it down for the night–and that’s before I dug into the multiplayer aspects of the online racing, the Rivals mode, buying user content in the online Auction House, and joining a virtual car club.

Whether Forza 4 is better than Gran Turismo 5 is a bit irrelevant since neither game is cross platform. the game you end up with will depend largely on what console you own. I will say that Forza 4 is a much more accessible game than GT4, offering the same scaling difficulty introduced in Forza 3 that can provide casual fun for novice racers as well as a challenge for the experienced hardcore.

Forza Motorsport 4 for the Xbox 360 hits shelves on October 11 at an MSRP of $59.99 for the standard edition and $79.99 for the Limited Collector’s Edition.

Is it more disappointing that RAGE isn’t very good, or that it runs like hell on many PCs? this week we gave you some tips to get the game running better, and we also took a look at the fun Orcs must Die, the history of id Software itself, and we took a peek at the new trailer for the upcoming Voxatron.

It was a big week, so dive in and see if you missed any stories!

RAGE is creatively and mechanically bankrupt, but it sure is pretty: RAGE has a huge marketing budget and a beautiful engine, but it has nothing else going for it. the mixture of linear shooting and wasted open-world sequences creates an unsatisfying and often frustrating game.

Forza Motorsport 4 review: the king is dead, long live the king! : Forza Motorsport is the Xbox’s answer to the PlayStation’s Gran Turismo franchise. the latest installment is about to arrive in stores, but can it cement its status as the go-to racing game for consoles? Yes. Yes it can.

Uncharted 3 MP launches early, given away for the cost of a soda: if you go to Subway and buy a soda, you can begin playing the Uncharted 3 competitive multiplayer today! also, you can unlock things like a five dollar footlong taunt, where you taunt your enemy while shilling for Subway.

Ars at the Tokyo Game show: the best titles from a world away: the Tokyo Game show is hot, crowded, and tough to get to. Fortunately, you don’t have to: Ars takes you inside the unique event and profiles some of the coolest titles on offer.

From Doom to RAGE: 20 years of id development: Ars talks to the minds behind id’s upcoming RAGE to learn how development has changed since the days of Doom and where the studio is headed next.

RAGE on PC is a mess, but you can fix some of it: There are a few things you can do to help the performance of RAGE on PC, and the game does use some interesting tech, but it’s a shame the PC version of the game feels so sloppy and unfinished.

New Voxatron trailer shows off voxels, level editor, joy: it has been a while since we’ve seen Voxatron, and its new trailer looks very promising. Access to an alpha has been promised for those who preorder the game.

XBLA, PC Orcs must Die adds third-person action to tower defense: Orcs must Die brings a much-needed shot of action and player agency to tower defense. the game is fast-paced and addictive, although some of the humor wears thin. this is a solid, fun game for $15.

Crysis on consoles is a $20, SP-only affair that looks and plays well: Crysis finally makes it to consoles with a digital release on the Xbox 360 and PS3, featuring some help from CryEngine 3 and optimization for gamepad controls.

XBLA, PC Orcs must Die adds third-person action to tower defense: Orcs must Die brings a much-needed shot of action and player agency to tower defense. the game is fast-paced and addictive, although some of the humor wears thin. this is a solid, fun game for $15.

Just Dance 3 boasts a toe-tapping total of 49 musical tracks, Ubisoft has announced. It launches today on Wii and Xbox 360.

The list is a diverse medley of music, from pop group Brahms’ Hungarian Dance no. 5 to Venus by classical composer Bananarama.

Bizarrely, fictional popstar Robin Sparkles’ breakthrough hit Let’s Go to the Mall is also included – all of which will make no sense unless you’ve watched US sitcom how I Met your Mother.

The Kinect version of just Dance 3 contains an additional two tracks on top of the list below, while a Special Edition for both Wii and Kinect includes a further couple on top of that.

A Move-compatible version arrives 9th December for PlayStation 3.

Previously only available on Wii, the just Dance franchise has sold more than 15 million copies.

This year has already seen just Dance 2 standalone follow-ups Extra Songs and just Dance Kids hit shop shelves.

Just Dance 3 full track list: