Citing “trusted sources,” IGN is reporting that Microsoft will soon make free-to-play games available through Xbox Live.
By doing so, gamers can play the games for free, but will purchase virtual content (currency, weapons, clothes, etc) just like in popular Facebook games like MafiaWars and CityVille.
The industry has seen an expansion into F2P, with big publishers like EA even trying the model on shooters like Battlefield Play4Free.
That game is still in beta.
For now this is still rumor, but we will keep you updated.
Result for: Xbox
According to Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business CFO Dennis Durkin, gamers of the Xbox 360 are using the console less and less for actual gaming, with the console being used to play games only 60 percent of the time now.
Non-gaming activities include streaming movies, streaming music, Internet browsing, Twitter, Facebook and more.
“What we found is the core gamer might be the person who brought the console into the house, but as you widen the choices of content, it broadens what people can do with the system,” added Durkin (via Cnet).
Xbox Live subscribers also spend an average of three hours online, every day, notes Durkin.
Microsoft recently upped the price of a Gold subscription to XBL by 20 percent, citing heavily increased infrastructure costs, thanks mainly to a large increase in streaming.
Result for: Xbox
Thanks to a picture posted on Flickr (originally in Korean here), it appears that 3D gaming is headed to the Xbox 360 sometime in the near future, with Microsoft and LG entering into a “strategic” partnership.
The companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Marketing (MOU) and will jointly market the upcoming product.
Buyers of the LED 3D HDTV models 55LX9500 and 47LX9500 will get a couple of Xbox 360 3D games, although it is unclear what those games may be.
Says Microsoft America of the new partnership: “3D games are available today on Xbox 360 and will continue to evolve. Today, you can buy a 3DTV and wear glasses to play games like Avatar and “Batman: Arkham Asylum.” The promotional partnership with LG announced in South Korea today is specific to the South Korean market, but is further evidence that as 3D adoption grows, Xbox 360 will support 3D games and entertainment.”
