Xbox General Manager Mark Whitten announced via open letter to the community about some changes to the terms of use. Since the introduction of profiles for gamers using the service, certain words have been banned and anyone engaging in online play would not be permitted to identify their sexual orientation

Specifics have been added to the Code Of Conduct:
You may use the following terms to express your relationship orientation in your profile or Gamertag:

Lesbian
Gay
Bi
Transgender
Straight

Other terms regarding relationship orientation are not allowed. In addition you may not use these terms or any other terms regarding relationship orientation to insult, harass, or any other pejorative use against other users.

Previously any gamer who identified themselves as straight or gay in their profiles would be in violation of terms of use and would be either forced to remove such terms or would be banned from the service.

Xbox Policy Manager Stephen Toulouse updated his twitter with “Special thanks to GLAAD and Microsoft’s LGBT community for guidance on the terms. If you try typing in any of the the approved terms into your profile, you should find they are not blocked. Let me know if you have problems”

So now you can be “out” and serve in Call of Duty or Battlefield Bad Company, unlike the real US Military. Here’s hoping the real world catches up with the video game world soon.

What do you think about the policy change? Leave a comment!

As they have done with their last 2 games, Bungie has begun a series of documentaries and preview videos showing the progress of their newest game.

Halo Reach footage shown here is very early, but shows promise. The game is expected to enter Beta Test in May, which can include any players who purchased their last title Halo 3: ODST, as an invitation will be available from the game’s title screen.

The above video is also available on Xbox Live in HD.

They say there are only two things for sure in life: death and taxes. In the US, Tax day is April 15 and for original Xbox games, death comes the same day.

Microsoft has announced they’ll be shutting down online gameplay servers for all original Xbox games, including ones that are compatible with XBox 360. Star Wars Battlefront, Counter Strike, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, Conker Live & Reloaded, and Halo 2 will no longer have online gameplay available.

Marc Whitten from the Xbox Live team posted an open letter to the community this morning detailing the closure and vague promises that shifting resources will allow new features in the future.

Those who don’t want to give up the original Xbox games or its community should check out XboxConnect, which has run unofficial servers for years.

Until that day comes, Powet will likely plan at least one last outing for Halo 2 so keep an eye out for a future game night.

The magical developers of the insane animated adventures Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers have unveiled their next game bound for Xbox Live Arcade.

The Behemoth call it “A story about friendship, betrayal, and a whole truck load of cats” and give it the title BattleBlock Theater.

Having made the craziest side scrolling shooter and the craziest 4 player brawler they now turn to platform action. Hopefully it will arrive in time for summer so we can enjoy air conditioned online fun as we did the last 2 summers with their games.

What, you don’t have their first two games? Get off your butt!

While there are many highly anticipated games this holiday season, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is probably on the top of most people’s lists. It’s no surprise this time around; in 2007 Infinity Ward delivered Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare which blew everyone’s expectations out of the water.

It was a major change in the series as it was previously exclusive to World War 2 and many, including Activision themselves weren’t quite sold on the idea when it was first announced. Infinity Ward gave us a gritty and realistic depiction of modern-day warfare in gaming. It was a gripping shooter that was believable and most importantly delivered on story, emotion, a gave us a different perspective of war, yet also delivered tons of fun and replay. Last year, Treyarch took us back to World War 2 with warm reception, but fans have been eagerly waiting to return to Modern Warfare and more importantly hoping that Infinity Ward would deliver once again… [Read the rest of this entry…]

Powet’s own Caleb Goessling and Sean Corse were featured on NBC 15 in Madison, WI last night as part of a story on the dangers of online gaming, and what you can expect to hear when you put on a headset.

You can find the entire clip here. What you don’t know about playing online… could kill you… or something.

The best way to describe Epic/Chair Entertainment’s Xbox Live offering is an old school gaming experience with a new school style. Although Shadow Complex contains 3D graphics powered by Unreal 3, its gameplay is reminiscent of old school 2d games such as Metroid. The game’s plot, penned by comic book writer Peter David (The Incredible Hulk, X-Factor), is a side story to the Orson Scott Card novel Empire. You play as Jason Flemming, an everyday guy who was doing some rock climbing with his girlfriend Claire. When Claire is captured by members of a terrorist organization (which has already assassinated the vice president by the way), it’s up to you to rescue her.
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During the early days of the Xbox 360, there weren’t a lot of launch-window titles that made people want to run out and buy the system. Dead or Alive 4 and Condemned were nice, but other than those two and a few others, the Xbox 360’s post-launch library was pretty weak. Thankfully, Microsoft’s Xbox Live downloadable games service, introduced during the previous Xbox life cycle (albeit to little fanfare) was kicking into high gear this generation, starting with its integration into the console itself (rather than having to buy a separate disc). Over time, players would be treated to a slew of classic re-releases, newer titles, and independently developed games. One of the first games available on the service, Geometry Wars, took old school style gameplay and touched it up with some nice graphical effects. It was in the tradition of Space Invaders, where one played simply to earn a high score. It was incredibly addictive as well. So addictive, that many Xbox 360 owners played this game more than any game that was released via retail during the first 4 months after the Xbox 360’s release. Now, Bizzare Creations has created a sequel which adds new game modes while keeping the previous game’s gameplay intact.
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