News Amazon Instant Video App for Xbox 360

News Amazon Instant Video App for Xbox 360 of Netflix's market. Amazon and Microsoft introduced an app for the Xbox 360 console today that enables Xbox Live Gold subscribers to search for and play movies via Amazon's Instant Video service with a wave of their hand or the sound of their voice.

The new Amazon Instant Video app taps into the console's Kinect voice and gesture controls. It also offers access to Prime Instant Video, a service with more than 17,000 streaming movies and TV episodes available to Amazon Prime members at no additional charge, according to a press release. A subscription to Xbox Live Gold starts at $5 a month. Amazon Prime is a membership program that costs $79 annually and offers customers free two-day shipping on their purchases. In addition, members get access to the expanding pool of movies in Prime Instant Video.

The announcement follows several other developments that seem to be aimed directly at Netflix's membership. The online retail giant launched its Sony PS3 app a few months ago and beefed up its library last month with hundreds of titles from Paramount. Amazon Prime customers can already view instant videos on their computers and other devices, such as Roku. Anthony Bay, Amazon's vice president for video, said in the release that the Xbox 360 app was one of the most requested features from customers.

The new app also integrates Amazon's Kindle Fire and other features.
"Our integration with Kinect for Xbox 360 lets customers play and search for videos with the wave of a hand or the sound of their voice, and our Whispersync technology allows customers to seamlessly switch between watching on their Kindle Fire and their Xbox 360 console, without losing their place," Bay said in the release. "Also, Watchlist is a great new feature that lets customers keep a running queue of videos they want to see in the future."

Users can't rent or buy videos through the new app. To access the rest of Amazon's library of more than 120,000 movies and TV episodes, customers will have to go online to purchase or rent movies. These movies will be loaded into the app's library.

See the Disney Pixar Adventure at Xbox 360

A Disney Pixar Adventure is fun and exhausting! Players enter a virtual amusement park where they will find five themed adventures based on some of the most popular Disney/Pixar movies – The Incredibles, Toy Story, Cars, Ratatouille and Up – making the game instantly playable.

First up, this game is obviously aimed at the younger generation – anyone between six- and 12-years-old will absolutely love it and will be kept busy for hours. Anyone older will also have fun, but will soon be exhausted, except for divorced dads and stepfathers, who will forge ahead regardless.

At the beginning, players are guided through a process whereby their avatar is created. They then head off to the theme park, where they are met by a bunch of young friends who guide and encourage them to go on the various rides.

The Incredibles takes the player to the island in the film where they are tasked with rescuing damsels or destroying giant robots and the like. By waving their arms and moving their legs, players are propelled along a linear path where they can gather coins and complete clearly highlighted tasks, some of which include throwing huge concrete blocks at windows. Show me a 10-year-old boy who wouldn't be thrilled!
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This particular chapter also has a free-fall scenario that's fast and fun! In Ratatouille, the player is obviously a rat that gets to scurry about and rescue fellow rats, do some serious balancing acts and slide down roofs at rat-neck-breaking speeds.

One thing about this game is that it is very polished. The graphics are beautiful and true to the films. Even watching someone playing is a pleasure. The gameplay is linear and fairly obvious, and the player is given a companion to lead the way and to encourage or give hints on how to complete puzzles or scenarios.

At any time, a second player can jump right into the action by simply waving an arm. Of course this means that if the second player is seated behind the first player, he or she better sit still – or risk getting shouted at.

I have to give this game a perfect score; it's superbly made, a lot of fun to play and watch, and I believe it will have a very long shelf life. As for the time it will take to complete, that's a tough one; many of the scenes are fairly short, but are more fun the second or third time around, and as players get better at the gestures, they go faster and score higher points. This, in turn, unlocks special features and extra levels. There are three “stages” for every game, so expect to play this for a long time.

Refund for the purchase of the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft

Microsoft is offering one of the most radical appeasements that any video game company can possibly offer – a refund for a digitally downloaded title. Anyone who purchased the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft and doesn’t own an HDTV is eligible to receive a full refund. That’s because one of the game’s key selling points doesn’t work unless you’re using a high-def set.

Apparently the development offices didn’t have any old-school TVs in their testing labs. But even though Microsoft never realized it, it didn’t take long for gamers to complain that anyone with a standard-definition TV was not able to enable the split-screen multiplayer feature. As Minecraft has risen to epic popularity as a solely single-player endeavor, the addition of a multiplayer component was one of the most significant aspects to the Xbox 360 version.

A Microsoft spokesperson was quoted as saying, “We updated our pre-sale notification to inform customers that an HD screen is required for the split-screen multiplayer feature on Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition. If a player does not have an HD screen and purchased this game prior to the notification update, they are eligible for a full refund through customer support.” The game sells for 1600 Microsoft Points, or $20.