Free Republic

Bill Gates has played down the threat posed to Microsoft by competition from internet search giant Google. Google's meteoric rise and rivalry with Microsoft has increasingly become a fixation of the press, Mr Gates said. "People tend to get over focused on one of our competitors. We've always seen that," the Microsoft chairman said. Speaking before a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, Mr Gates said computer giant IBM posed a greater threat to Microsoft. "IBM has always been our biggest competitor. The press just don't like to write about IBM," he told the Reuters news...

Santa Rosa, Calif. - A 26-year-old man was arrested on charges he molested a teenage boy he met through Microsoft Corp.'s popular Xbox Live online video game community, authorities said. Ronnie Brendan Watts, of Placerville, delayed entering a plea Wednesday to charges that include using the Internet to solicit a minor, said Donna Edwards, a spokeswoman for the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office. He is due back in court Jan. 20. Santa Rosa police arrested Watts on Dec. 15 after the 14-year-old boy revealed details of the alleged relationship to his mother. Detectives said Watts contacted the boy in October...

If you are a Freeper, and also like online gaming, post here to find fellow gamers, share screen shots, reviews, helps, and tips. Gamer tables are updated and published weekly. We currently have 86 gamers playing over 60 different games. Top Games: Battlefield/Battlefield 2 (19 gamers) World Of Warcraft (15 gamers) Unreal Tournament (9 gamers) City Of Heroes (10 gamers)

U.S. prosecutors have charged three men with copyright infringement for allegedly selling modified Xbox consoles that enabled the original video game machine from Microsoft to play pirated games. The criminal complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday named ACME Game Store co-owners Jason Jones, 34, and Jonathan Bryant, 44, as well as Pei "Patrick" Cai, 32. The complaint alleges that Jones and Bryant sold Xbox systems that Cai modified with chips and hard drives that allowed people to copy rented or borrowed games onto the console for future play. All three men are charged with one felony...

Men Face criminal charge for Xbox TamperingTue Dec 20, 2005 3:45 PM ET168 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors have charged three men with copyright infringement for selling modified Xbox consoles that enabled the original video game machine from Microsoft Corp. to play pirated games. The criminal complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday named ACME Game Store co-owners Jason Jones, 34, and Jonathan Bryant, 44, as well as Pei "Patrick" Cai, 32.

I wasn't one of the people who stood in line for hours and hours when the xbox 360 first came out, but i was wondering if anyone knew if microsoft was making another shipment for before christmas or is it just hopeless? I went to the local EB and they said microsoft won't have another shipment until after the holidays. That kind of seems like a dumb idea, why cut off the shipments during the holidays? Can anybody shed some light on this, thanks.

If you are a Freeper, and also like online gaming, post here to find fellow gamers, share screen shots, reviews, helps, and tips. Gamer tables are updated and published weekly. We currently have 84 gamers playing over 60 different games. Top Games: Battlefield/Battlefield 2 (19 gamers) World Of Warcraft (15 gamers) Unreal Tournament (9 gamers) City Of Heroes (10 gamers)

It was only a matter of time before the first XBOX 360 game was ripped, hacked, smacked and packed by a pirate group and the first one in question is - Condemed, Criminal Origins. Oh the irony! The group PI released the 7 gigabyte hacked dump this evening with the words: You can't run these dumps yet, but you will be able to sooner or later In the mean time you can use our open source extractor tool to check the contents on your pc. Why do we release full raw dumps, one sentence "Remember Gamecube?" until we know for...

A Chicago man has filed a class action complaint against Microsoft that claims the company knowingly distributed defective Xbox game consoles in its hurry to beat rivals to market with a next-generation gaming product. A complaint filed in a U.S. District Court in Illinois by Robert E. Byers alleges that Microsoft designed a power supply and a CPU into the Xbox 360 that run too hot and overheat, causing the console to freeze or lock up when being operated. The design defect is “material” because “it renders the Xbox 360 game consoles completely inoperable,” according to court documents filed Friday,...

Aliens landed in Palmdale last week. At least that's what it looked like from the Antelope Valley Freeway. An eerie green glow emanated from hangar 703, near Plant 42, shining across miles of sleepy houses. From the Vista Point, it looked like Venus had descended from the night sky and taken up residence on Avenue P. I followed the light. Because that's what you do with ominous and unexplained lights, right? You follow them. Besides, it was only 2:30 in the morning. OK, full disclosure, I had directions to the source of the green light. I didn't need them, but...

Some poltroon lawyers nixed airing it, but this ad is a hoot. (Warning: Politically Incorrect imaginary violence!)

Parents and retailers are failing miserably to keep violent and sexually explicit video games out of the hands of children, according to a report that estimates seven in 10 youngsters are playing M-rated games meant for people over the age of 17. The 10th annual MediaWise Video Game Report, released today by the National Institute on Media and the Family, targets 12 video games parents should keep out of the hands of children and teenagers. The 12 Worst Far CryF.E.A.R.The WarriorsStubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a PulseTrue Crime: New York CityBlitz: The LeagueGrand Theft Auto: Liberty City StoriesGod of...

After we collect $430 in donations, we will take that money to a local unspecified retailer, which opens at 12am on the launch date. We will purchase the Xbox 360, and destroy it in front of the other Xbox fanboys who are already waiting in line. We will try to be at the very front of the line. The whole thing will be shot on film, and displayed on this site. This is only a social experiment, for the entertainment of the donors, and visitors of this site.Pictures and the video on the site.

Good Samaritans have stepped in to help a Jonesboro woman who was mugged at gunpoint and robbed for the XBox 360 video game she bought for her son. Patsy Springer found the game at Best Buy, took money out of her retirement fund, stood in line for nine hours, and bought it for Christmas. It cost nearly $600 with accessories. Before she got it home, a gunman took it from her. "I believe he would have killed me if I hadn't have let him have the game," said Springer.

I had a chance to play some Xbox 360 games today and Ifelt the same way when I first played a Sega Gensis many years ago... The colors were great and there was a definite next generation feel to the games... But the leap in technology is not as perceptible as it was when the PS 2 was introduced.. This generation is the 720p high definition (HD) generation. Games look great, and frame rates are great, but there isn't much which is earth shattering. Don't get me wrong, HD requires quite a bit of muscle under the hood of a...

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft's Xbox 360 console may have only just hit stores, but it has already been subjected to "teardown" analyses by at least three research firms. Chipworks Inc., Portelligent Inc. and iSuppli Corp. found, among other things, that most of the dedicated parts within console are stamped with the Microsoft X-logo, rather than the actual manufacturers' logo “We could call this ‘Microsoft inside’,” Gary Tomkins, manager of technical intelligence at Chipworks, said in a statement released Wednesday (Nov. 23). Analyst David Carey of Portelligent (Austin, Texas) said the Microsoft markings were applied to the custom ASIC parts designed...

When Jake Walker upsets his girlfriend, Jaci Boydston, he might buy her flowers. When Jaci feels she owes an apology to Jake, she agrees to play a round of the Nintendo fighting game "Super Smash Brothers." Jaci and Jake, who both attend Kansas State University, are a modern couple dealing with a modern issue. One of them is a gamer; the other is not. Theirs is not an unusual plight. For decades gamers and non-gamers in love have struggled to find harmony. At Kansas State the frustration is rampant. Like most college campuses, it is a place where the release...

Microsoft on Wednesday said some Xbox 360 owners are reporting problems with the new video game console that debuted in North America earlier this week. "We have received a few isolated reports of consoles not working as expected," Microsoft spokeswoman Molly O'Donnell told Reuters in a telephone interview. Enthusiast Web sites such as Engadget.com and Xbox-scene.com, as well as Microsoft's own Xbox Web forum, carried postings on Wednesday from Xbox 360 owners reporting that some systems had crashed during regular play as well as during online game play using the Xbox Live service. Roundup Xbox 360 grab-a-thon Devotees line up...

Shoppers Scuffle While Waiting for Xboxes 2 hours, 1 minute ago Shoppers waiting in line for the new Xbox 360 video game player scuffled outside a Wal-Mart Supercenter when a manager improvised rules for who would get the game first. It took more than 10 police officers to restore order, though no one was arrested.A crowd of about 300 people were waiting late Monday for the game to go on sale at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. Some of them had waited 12 hours when a night manager said the Xboxes would be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, instead of...

fmwap writes "There have been several postings over at Xbox-scene complaining of crashing Xbox's on new games, with default settings on single player. Crashes on Xbox Live and on startup have been reported too, and Project Gotham Racing 3 crashes before finishing the first lap. Screenshots and Video are available showing the crash."