Dukes Digital Domain…

As you’re aware I’m currently suffering with an addiction, I hear the sound of orbs in my sleep but so far, I have not found any orbs in the real world, yet. I’m going to be playing Crackdown shortly but before go of on an orb hunting frenzy, I thought I’d let you know that you can download the agility orb MP3 and use it on your computer or mobile phone.

I’m going to set the sound as a notification SMS/MMS alert on my mobile phone. If you’ve got my mobile number, send me a text and I’ll most likely think that there is an orb floating around my living room before taking a couple of hours to reply

Thanks for the linkage Agent, I mean Ross.

As soon as I got to the airport on Monday afternoon I was given an itinerary of the two day trip. I noticed that the flight was going to Copenhagen, Denmark which I questioned because I thought the developer was based in Sweden. Anyways, we got off the plane at Kastrup Airport and had to take a train into Malmo, Sweden. While we were travelling I checked my mobile and I received notification on which Scandinavian networks the cell was roaming on, that was pretty cool because I didn’t think the mobile would work in Sweden, let alone in Denmark.

It actually took longer on the London Underground to get to the final destination. Two hours via tube from North London to Heathrow Terminal 4 while the flight, train journey and cab ride took one hour and forty-five minutes. We checked into the Malmo Hilton Hotel and my room was located on the fifteenth floor, I still have the keycard, whoops. I had one amazing view of the city.

None of the above doesn’t really give away anything so I’ll be posting more about this trip shortly, the pre-alpha build that engaged the European print press is absolutely amazing. I really can’t wait to read the previews of it once the embargo is lifted in April.

I’m heading over to Sweden today.  Actually, it is not that long until I have to catch my flight so this will be the last blog post until I get back to the UK.  I was supposed to be going to Sweden on Tuesday but I got a phone call this morning, informing me that I have to be at Heathrow Terminal 4 at 2pm today, awesome.

I’ll let you know why I’m so excited and the reasons why I’m going to Sweden when I get back, bon-voyage.

I’m blogging this from my bed… using my PSP which is cool but it takes FOREVER to type. (Xbox Live’s messaging system is a lot more efficient than the PSP’s keypad). I hinted about this earlier. We’re considering some pretty cool things pertaining to the license of The Book of Games.

So far, we’ve got the book into the marketplace and it is doing well but as it covers all platforms we could potentially ‘open up’ the book so that we’ve got other volumes covering each platform it’s own dedicated book. For example, The Book of Games - Xbox 360: Volume One, The Book of Games – Playstation 3: Volume One or The Book of Games – Handheld and Mobile Games: Volume One - neat huh? Can you see the potential?

Also, did you know that you could nominate games, hardware and software for inclusion in the next edition of the book? If you’d like to nominate a game, please feel free to email me or leave a comment.

Without doubt Crackdown, Gears of War, Star Trek: Legacy and Rainbow Six: Vegas get my vote but that is because I’m writing the Xbox section…

The next-generation Playstations launch in around the corner and so far, I’ve received emails from GAME, Shotto.net and Play.com confirming that they will be able to fulfil all PS3 pre-orders. I’m still in two minds about whether to get one or not and I have no intention to pre-order anything, I didn’t pre-order an Xbox 360 so why should I start now. Also, the European PS3 is limited in terms of its backward compatibly with the PS1 and PS2 but would anyone really be buying a next-generation console to play last generation games?

We just got a PS3 dev-kit but I have to go to Oslo to use it so I’m thinking that it may be worthwhile getting a PS3 retail unit for work (It could be used on V2 of the book or maybe a franchise of the book i.e. The Book of Games: Playstation 3 V1). I’ve got the necessary funds sitting here but personally, I’d prefer to spend it on a holiday. So, who is going to get a PS3?

I haven’t played anything else on the Xbox 360 since I got my copy of Crackdown. The game is a lot fun and very addictive. So far, I’ve managed to collect 409 green orbs and 89 blue orbs. Now the only problem with having so many orbs is that it has become very tricky locating the others. I really hope that no online media posts up a map of where to find the orbs because, that I think will ruin the game play experience for people just getting the game. It is MORE FUN finding them yourself but some people may find a map useful.

I’m pretty whacked from the trip yesterday so I’m going to chill out this weekend but I’m wondering how Ben managed to pull this off?!

To the folks just getting the game, what do you think of Crackdown so far, enjoying it or hating it?

Tom is heading over to Germany on Monday for a speaking engagement at the Fixed-Mobile Convergence Summit 2007 while I’m heading over to Sweden on Tuesday for a rather fun gathering. Earlier today, I was invited to Oslo so I’ll be travelling Norway during the spring. Plus at some point within the next few months I’m going to take a brief vacation in New York. (Thanks for the NY tips Duncan). However, none of the above compares to Steve’s worldwide trip!

Anyway, first thing tomorrow morning, I’m jumping on a train and heading up to Birmingham. The day should be fun as I’m meeting one of my Norwegian colleagues somewhere in the city… I really hope he doesn’t get lost. When I get back tomorrow night I’m going to do absolutely nothing apart from chill out as things were a bit stressful this week and I really need a break. If anyone wants to play some games via Xbox Live, send us an invite.

On the subject of Xbox, a company called The Junction Group announced The Connected Home. The event looks interesting as it is focused on IPTV and Microsoft will be showcasing IPTV via the Xbox 360 for the first time in Europe. I’ve posted a snippet from the press release below:

Microsoft to showcase IPTV on Xbox 360 for the first time in Europe at The Connected Home

Microsoft will showcase IPTV on Xbox 360 for the first time in Europe at The Connected Home show to be held in Olympia, London on 5-7 March, 2007 (www.the-connected-home.co.uk). Ed Graczyk, Worldwide Director of Marketing and Communications for Microsoft TV, will demonstrate IPTV on Xbox 360 during his keynote at the conference, entitled “Future of Connected Entertainment”.

The demonstration will showcase what happens when next-generation television is combined with next-generation gaming in a unique, new service delivered by your broadband provider. Graczyk commented, “Separately the Xbox 360 and Microsoft TV IPTV Edition deliver unique and exciting entertainment experiences, but IPTV on Xbox 360 delivers a real value proposition for consumers, service providers and content and game developers alike. By integrating these industry-leading solutions, we continue to drive innovation and enable new connected entertainment experiences for consumers.”

IPTV on Xbox 360 is expected to be available through select service providers as early as the holiday season in 2007. Some of the world’s largest telecommunications service providers have chosen Microsoft IPTV Edition as their IPTV software solution, with scaled commercial deployments currently under way with AT&T, BT Group PLC, Deutsche Telekom, T-Online in France and Swisscom.

Interesting.

If you’re attending The Connected Home or the Fixed-Mobile Convergence Summit 2007, drop us a line.

On a side note, I’ve started linking to locations via Microsoft Virtual Earth maps as they are slightly better than Google Maps

I’ve just had a listen to Totally360’s latest podcast and it was pretty cool. Wayne’s done another outstanding job with it as he managed to get the folks from the gamerscore blog on the show.

The discussion was entertaining and it provides you with an insight into how approachable Microsoft’s Xbox team actually is. Download and have a listen to the latest podcast and let us know what you think.

No, not me but a friend of mine has set up a brand new blog. I think Ben has set up and run over ten different blogs over the past year and those ranged from Blogger to Live Spaces. The cool thing though is that he has set up one powered by Wordpress – the only real blogging platform.

You can check out Bens blog via www.benfurfie.co.uk (Please update your links). Although I’m not sure what he meant by one of the comments that he made about me, maybe it was a polite way of him saying I was fat, so if that’s the case he’ll get a slap when he’s in London next.

Earlier this month I mentioned that there was a competition in Xbox 360: The Official Xbox Magazine which was pretty cool and in the past few days, I found out that Flipside was running a competition as well. Although these competitions were planned in December it is really good to see coverage in the magazines. I think Flipside is running a review of The Book of Games next month so I’ll see if I can post up a scan when I get the magazine.

There is still a lot of work to do in terms of getting the book into all major retailers but the process so far, is going extremely well

On another note, I’d just like to say thanks to Keri Allan and Ben Talbot.