Following the furor that emerged over Steve Ballmer's apparent declaration that a new Xbox 360 would arrive next year, the Microsoft CEO has issued an apology through outlet IGN:

"I confused the issue with my poorly chosen words. There is no news in my comments. Things are as reported after E3. Sorry."

Following Ballmer's mention of a new Xbox 360 in 2010 with a "natural interface," Microsoft product manager Aaron Greenberg chimed in, saying "there will be no new console" and "I really believe [Ballmer] was speaking about Project Natal."

Revealed at E3, Project Natal is an Xbox 360 add-on that packs voice recognition technology and a camera for motion-sensitive gaming. Microsoft has yet to offer a release window for the add-on, though Ballmer reportedly suggested a 2010 release.

Update: Microsoft has flat-out denied that it will release an all-new Xbox 360 console in 2010. "There will be no new console," Microsoft product manager Aaron Greenberg informed Kotaku. "We're not going to be launching a new console any time soon."

Greenberg cited a belief that Ballmer was referring to the upcoming Project Natal add-on for Xbox 360 yesterday, stressing that "we're barely halfway through this generation...we're happy with the Xbox 360, so there are no changes from that standpoint."

"What we're doing that's unique is, instead of asking you to invest in a new generation of hardware, a generation that's already well established, extending the experience even longer by adding this whole new category of experiences with Project Natal."

He further noted that there is no announced release window for Project Natal, but admitted that Microsoft has "looked at" bundling Natal with Xbox 360s in the future.

Original: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer today said that a new Xbox 360 will arrive in 2010, according to a TG Daily report citing a speech at the Executive's Club of Chicago.

Ballmer described the device as having a "natural interface" thanks to a built-in camera and voice recognition capabilities, leaving it unclear as to if he was referencing the previously undated Project Natal add-on for Xbox 360 or an entirely new... Read more

Publisher Electronic Arts has announced that former chief operating officer John Schappert will return to that position on July 14, ending a two-year stint at Xbox 360 maker Microsoft.

While at Microsoft, Schappert served as a corporate vice president and oversaw various elements of Xbox 360 operations, including Xbox Live and Microsoft Game Studios.

Schappert will replace current EA COO John Pleasants, who is now leaving the company, and marks the latest former EA executive to return to the company. John Ricitiello, who left his position as EA COO... Read more

The hard drive-less Arcade models of the Xbox 360 hardware are now shipping with 512MB of onboard storage, maker Microsoft has confirmed with Eurogamer.

Microsoft initially made the switch to internal storage in Arcade units last December, replacing the bundled 256MB Xbox 360 memory card with 256MB of internal memory.

"We want to offer consumers a bit more memory at the same low price so they can enjoy more experiences on Xbox LIVE," Microsoft said of the upgrade. "The Xbox 360 system software uses some of the included 512MB memory; less storage will be available to users. Additional storage (sold separately) may be needed for game saves, Xbox LIVE Arcade games, content downloads, personal file storage, and additional enhanced functionality. A hard drive is recommended for LIVE, and is required for some features."

Priced at $200, the Xbox 360 Arcade is the cheapest of the various Xbox 360 hardware models, and the only one that does not include a hard drive. At $299, the Xbox 360 Pro comes with a 60GB HDD, while the $399 Elite model packs a 120GB HDD. Of course, said hard drives can also be purchased separately in various size configurations.

Update: "The issues around accessing Xbox LIVE Marketplace content are now resolved," Microsoft's Larry Hryb declared in an early morning June 18 status update .

Though Xbox Live has returned following yesterday's scheduled downtime, Microsoft has confirmed that the service is currently experiencing "technical issues" that may prevent users from purchasing and downloading content from the Xbox Live Marketplace.

"We are aware of the problem and working to resolve the technical issues," Microsoft's Xbox Live Status page currently reads. "We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience."

Word of the issues surfaced over at Kotaku, following reports that Xbox 360 owners were having problems with Marketplace downloads, including Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers and pre-order bonus content for Ghostbusters.

As Tuesday approaches, now seems a good time to remind you that Xbox Live will be going down for "service maintenance" on Tuesday, June 16, at 12:01 AM PDT.

Microsoft has previously cautioned that the downtime could last for up to 24 hours, during which time Xbox 360 owners will be unable to play games online, stream or download content from the Xbox Live Marketplace, or post in the official Xbox.com forums.

Though there won't be any new features available immediately upon the return of Xbox Live, the maintenance will help prepare the service for its wealth of upcoming additions, including the avatar marketplace, digital downloads for full Xbox 360 games, Last.fm music streaming and Neflix improvements, plus Facebook and Twitter integration.

"We do not view this as a $60 title," Joe Staten, of developer Bungie, noted shortly after the revelation of Halo 3: ODST. Bungie's Paul Bertone then described the single-player portion of the stand-alone prequel as "a three to five-hour expansion pack."

Last week, however, Microsoft confirmed that the Xbox 360 shooter will in fact sell for $60--with a $100 collector's bundle packing an exclusive ODST-themed wireless Xbox 360 controller--when it launches on September 22.

Explaining the higher-than-expected cost of the game, Microsoft told Joystiq:

At the time of those statements, the overall scope of Halo 3: ODST was not yet finalized, and since then the project has grown increasingly more ambitious. We believe this standalone experience is... Read more

Organizing a table-top gaming session? Next Tuesday might be the day for it, as Microsoft has announced it will be shutting down Xbox Live for maintenance starting that morning.

The tune-up will begin on June 16th at 12:01am PST, and could last up to 24 hours.

While the maintenance is related to upcoming Xbox Live features--such as the announced avatar marketplace, Xbox 360 digital download store, and Last.fm music streaming, plus Facebook and Twitter integration--users should expect no new functionality to immediately follow the down-time.

While the artificial size constraint on Xbox Live Arcade titles has been steadily increased since the platform's launch, Microsoft now tells us that no Xbox Live Arcade game can exceed 2GB in size due to technical limitations.

The current "limit" stands at 350MB, but several Arcade games already exceed that boundary, including Portal: Still Alive (629MB), Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (368MB) and Watchmen: The End is Nigh (1GB).

"Our technical constraint is 2GB," said Microsoft director of digital distribution Scott Austin. "If there's a quality reason to go over 350MB, [then we will]."

The original limit was set at 50MB at the console's launch, and then increased from 150MB to 350MB last year.

Chair's upcoming action-platformer Shadow Complex, announced last week at E3, is expected to weigh in around 800-900MB, according to studio creative director Donald Mustard.

Microsoft's August-due Games on Demand section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, set to enable users to digitally purchase and download full-fledged Xbox 360 retail games, will forgo Microsoft Points in favor of real-world currency.

"For the first time in Games Marketplace, we're showing the price in local currency," Microsoft director of digitally distributed games Scott Austin explained in a presentation with Shacknews. "That way you can see if we're the same price as retail or not, people can understand--a little more transparency that we're providing to our consumers."

Buyers will be able to directly bill their credit card for the exact price of the game, instead of being forced to use Microsoft Points--wherein 80 Points is equivalent to $1, and Points can only be purchased in increments of 500 ($6.25), 1000 ($12.50), 2000 ($25) or 5000 ($62.50). However, users can opt to use their existing balance of Microsoft Points for full game downloads if they wish. "You now have the choice," said Austin.

When asked if this shift towards local currency would carry over to the rest of the Xbox Live Marketplace--the offerings of which include downloadable... Read more

Microsoft today dropped an Xbox 360 statbomb, showering figures on a range of metrics including the fact that the Xbox 360 has now sold over 30 million units worldwide.

After combing through financial reports and rooting around in bins, Shacknews offers the following list of worldwide lifetime console sales:

1. Nintendo DS - 101.78 million units (as of March 31 2009)
2. Nintendo Wii - 50.39 million units (as of March 31 2009)
3. PSP - 50 million units (as of February 13 2009)
4. Xbox 360 - 30 million units (as of May 28 2009)
5. PlayStation 3 - 22.91 million units (as of March 31 2009)

Microsoft also boasts it leads current-generation consoles in attach rate, with 8.3 titles being bought per console, as well as sales for third-party developers--$5.9 billion.

On the community front, Xbox Live's 20 million active accounts have downloaded nearly 1 billion pieces of Marketplace content. Sony announced in February that the PlayStation Network had 20 million registered users, though this includes forum and PSP accounts.

Rumors of motion controller-related announcements for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are beginning to propagate once again in advance of E3.

Variety cites several sources in a report that claims Sony is preparing to announce a new motion controller for the PlayStation 3. The purported device uses a webcam and LEDs to achieve an accuracy of motion greater than that of the Wii.

Meanwhile, a tipster writing into Engadget says that Microsoft is readying a full-body motion sensing device. The rumor would see a high-tech sensor bar detecting a full range of movement without the use of an actual handheld controller.

As many motion controller rumors have certainly been proven false in the past, the Shack doctor recommends taking two grains of salt and calling us after the show.

A limited edition Xbox 360 "Game of the Year" hardware bundle will hit North American store shelves in May, Microsoft announced today.

Priced at $399, the bundle packs an Xbox 360 Elite--itself normally sold at $399--along with copies of Bungie's shooter Halo 3 and Lionhead's action-RPG Fable II.

The Elite differs from other versions of the hardware as it comes with a 120GB hard drive, instead of a 60GB HDD (Xbox 360 Pro) or 512MB of storage (Xbox 360 Arcade).

The promotion continues Microsoft's recent trend of pairing the Xbox 360 Elite with software at no extra cost, last seen with the Resident Evil 5 bundle in March.

Microsoft has extended the Xbox 360's three-year general hardware failure warranty to cover E74 errors, with the company now offering refunds to anyone that paid for an E74-related repair within their first three years of owning the console.

"We have determined that the E74 error message can indicate the general hardware failure that is associated with three flashing red lights error on the console," reads a Microsoft support page, updated today, noticed by Kotaku.

"As a result, we have decided to cover repairs related to the E74 error message under our three-year warranty program for certain general hardware failures that was announced in July 2007. We have already made improvements to the console that will reduce the likelihood of an occurrence of this issue."

Refunds for eligible E74 repairs should go out within the next 4-12 weeks, Microsoft said. However, if no refund is received by July 1 of this year, a refund claim will need to be filed at at www.xbox.com/support before November 1, 2009.

Thanks to Dave-A for the tip.

Online retailer Amazon today launched a new Xbox Live store which offers codes for downloadable Xbox 360 games, along with the regular assortment of Xbox Live Gold subscriptions and Microsoft Points currency.

Amazon's Xbox store launches with over 100 Xbox Live Arcade titles, ranging from Braid to Bejeweled 2. Hand over your dollars--not Microsoft Points--and Amazon will instantly give you a code to add the game, Points or subscription to an Xbox Live account.

Games will benefit from the usual Amazon features of reviews, ratings and wishlists, increasing exposure and bringing a more traditional retail angle to games previously available only through the Xbox Live Marketplace--a very few retail releases aside.

This also gives a quick and easy way to gift Live Arcade Games. It was at one point possible to gift Microsoft Points in the US if you knew their Live ID, but not actual games.

Though it's been a few months, Microsoft today re-affirmed that the Xbox 360 release of Rock Band 2 will indeed be someday compatible with the flashy wireless microphones that came with the Microsoft-published, iNis-developed karaoke game Lips (X360).

Not only that, but Neversoft's recent Xbox 360 release of Guitar Hero Metallica will be joining Harmonix's multi-instrument game in its support of the wireless microphones.

In fact, Guitar Hero Metallica is already compatible with the wireless mic, with support coming to Rock Band 2 this "summer" via a downloadable update. No word as to exactly when the update hits, but it's still good news for those tangled up in blue wires.

Microsoft added that other games due out this year will also support the Lips mics. Those other games weren't specified, but upcoming Rock Band and Guitar Hero titles are a safe bet, especially if the support's already there in a previous edition.

A new Xbox 360 system update today fixes interruption issues in unspecified games.

Microsoft's Major Nelson indicates on his blog that the update "addresses interruption issues that some Xbox LIVE users may have experienced when playing a limited number of Xbox 360 games." Who? What? When where why? We might never know.

You will be prompted to download the update when you next sign into Live.

Slap my thighs and snap my suspenders, it must be April Fools' Day again as Microsoft has announced Alpine Legend, a yodeling and alphorn rhythm game for the Xbox 360.

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Alpine Legend features such classic hits as "Whose spit is in my horn?" and "More goat bell (It needs)" from alpine legends including Franz "The Manz" Lang and Johann Hornbostel. Grab the limited edition Tri-horn Pack to become "a Tri-horn blastmaster."

Showing the reality behind yodeling's glamourous image, Alpine Legend will confront players with tours of sleepy mountain villages, rising tempers in log cabin recording sessions, the perils of throat soother addiction and the pressures of a live yodel-off.

Famed World of Warcraft developer Blizzard has denied that it's in talks with Microsoft regarding the inevitable Xbox 360 successor, often referred to as the Xbox 720.

Word that Blizzard and Microsoft were in Xbox 720 talks emerged last week via GamesIndustry.biz, which claimed that Blizzard executive Rob Pardo dropped the tidbit during a "Lunch with Luminaries" discussion at Game Developers Conference.

"We aren't in discussions with Microsoft regarding any future consoles," Blizzard, also responsible for the popular Diablo and StarCraft series, told GameSpot today.

According to Blizzard, Pardo merely noted that "Microsoft occasionally bounces ideas off of us, with no specific reference to any possible future consoles."

The company, which is also working on a next-gen MMO, added that "this [consultation] should come as no surprise, as our games run on Microsoft's PC operating system."

Blizzard executive Rob Pardo has revealed that the World of Warcraft developer is in active talks with Microsoft regarding the successor to the Xbox 360, reports GamesIndustry.biz.

Pardo said this during the Luminaries Lunch at the Game Developers Conference. Other industry figures lunching--including Sims creator Will Wright, Deus Ex creator Warren Spector and Acclaim's David Perry--said they'd yet to be approached about the unannounced console, lovingly dubbed the Xbox 720 by many.

This is perhaps surprising considering Blizzard's last game to see a console release was the Nintendo 64 port of StarCraft way back in 2000 but that's the point--Blizzard's titles absolutely dominate the PC platform yet never reach consoles... Read more