Xbox Live's Major Nelson : Events

Headed for Hawaii

Major Nelson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:43:00 GMT

The Inside Xbox crew and I are on are way to Maui, Hawaii for the 26th Annual EA Sports Maui Invitational that kicks off this weekend. I’ll be hosting a reception on Saturday night with all of the teams that are participating in the tournament, and working on some videos during the few days we will be on the island. Watch Inside Xbox for our reports from event and see a few of the sites and sounds of this tropical paradise. If you are an Xbox LIVE Member in Maui, send me an email (Major at Xbox –dot-com) and maybe you can show the Xbox team around your island.

Savannah then New York for MW2

Major Nelson — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:24:00 GMT

I am currently in Savannah, Georgia through Sunday for the Geekend2009 event. I’ll be attending the various conference sessions, and then speaking to the group Saturday night. Drop me a note in the comments if you’re planning on attending. On Monday, I’ll be in New York’s Union Square for the official Modern Warfare 2 launch event shooting video for Inside Xbox and hanging out w/ the crowd. Here is a PDF file that contains details around Monday's MW2 Activities. Hopefully you can attend one (or both) events. Either way, have a great weekend.

News from Tokyo Game Show 2009

Major Nelson — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:01:50 GMT

TGS kicked off today and Xbox has just rolled out a few announcements:

Forza fans will see the return of the fan favorite track Fujimi Kaido track to Forza Motorsport 3. You can see a video of the new track and more at Forzamotorsport.net. In addition, a slew of Japanese cars that will be available for Forza Motorsport 3 were also announced.
In Xbox LIVE Arcade news, Snoopy Flying Ace, Toy Soldiers, 0 Day Attack on Earth, Bomberman Live Battlefest and RayStorm HD will be coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade.
A community unlockable level was announced for Joy Ride, along with three new game modes.
South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play! will launch on October 7th for 800 Points

We also announced broad developer support for Project Natal. Many of the industries most creative minds have signed up to support Natal. Today in Tokyo at TGS, CAPCOM's Keiji Inafune, creator of Mega Man and Dead Rising, Sega's Toshihiro Nagoshi, creator of Super Monkey Ball and Konami's Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear Solid series will discuss the possibilities for the groundbreaking new experiences that can only be achieved with Project Natal at a special creators panel. I’ll be recording the complete audio of the panel for posting later this week.

More Tokyo Game Show details on Xbox.com

Edit: We’ve added many of the trailers we’ve released at TGS to Xbox LIVE in HD.

Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Console

Major Nelson — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT

I am in Los Angeles at a Modern Warfare 2 press event where we just announced the Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Console. It is available for pre-order today at U.S. retailers, and in other regions later this week. The package includes the custom designed console, 250 GB hard drive, two wireless controllers and a standard edition of Modern Warfare 2 for US $399.99.

Edit: You can now Pre-Order the console on Amazon

Click to see the high res versions:

Headed to PAX ? Be sure to get your free Avatar T-Shirt

Major Nelson — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:38:00 GMT

If you’re coming to Seattle for the Penny Arcade Expo this weekend, let me be the first to say welcome. Be sure to stop by the special Xbox table (not the booth) to pick up your
free PAX 2009 T Shirt for your avatar, proudly being modeled here by my own Xbox LIVE avatar. All you need to do is stop by the Xbox table on your way to the show floor and ask for one. It’s located on the 4th floor, North Lobby at the top of the escalators (across from the Penny Arcade Store.) . We’ll be handing them out on Friday and Saturday from 1p – 4p while supplies last so don’t wait until the last minute to score one.

See you this weekend!

How you can play Halo 3: ODST Firefight before anyone else

Major Nelson — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:01:00 GMT

If you are dying to get your hands on Halo 3: ODST to try out the new Firefight multiplayer mode, then you may be in luck. Bungie, Microsoft and GameStop have teamed up to give you a chance to experience Firefight and maybe win some Halo swag. We’ve announced that the custom created Halo 3: ODST Transport vehicle that will be making stops at GameStops across the United States and offering you an up close and hands on look of this new Halo multiplayer mode.
The tour kicks off this Saturday at 12 noon at the GameStop right down the street from the Xbox offices. Join me and a bunch of folks from the Xbox team as we kick off the tour that may bring the Halo 3: ODST Transport to your area.

Halo 3: ODST Transport Vehicle Stops

City

Seattle (Redmond, WA)

Portland (Hillsboro, OR)

San Francisco (Union City, CA)

San Jose (Antioch, CA)

Los Angeles (Pasadena, CA)

San Diego, CA

Las Vegas (Henderson, NV)

Phoenix (Avendale, AZ)

Dallas (Southlake, TX)

Austin (Cedar Park, TX)

Houston (Tomball, TX)

Memphis, TN

Nashville (Murfreesboro, TN)

Indianapolis, IN

Chicago, IL

Detroit (Shelby Township, MI)

Cleveland (North Olmstead, OH)

Pittsburgh, PA

Philadelphia (Fairless Hills, PA)

Washington, DC (Woodbridge, VA)

Baltimore (Owings Mills, MD)

New York (North Babylon, NY)

Location

Redmond Town Center

Tanasbourne Town Center

Union Landing

Center At Slatten Ranch

Hastings Village

Carmel Mt. Ranch

Whitney Ranch

Gateway Pavilion

Shops of Southlake

Lakeline Plaza

Spring Cypress Wal-Mart Center

Marketplace at Wolfcreek

College Central Shopping Center

Target 31 Shopping Center

The Brickyard Shopping Center

Shelby Town Center

Great Northern Plaza South

North Hills Village

Fairless Hills Towne Center

Smoketown Station

Garrison Forest Plaza Shopping Center

Sunset Plaza

Date

8/22

8/23

8/25

8/26

8/28

8/29

8/30

8/31

9/3

9/4

9/5

9/7

9/8

9/10

9/11

9/12

9/13

9/14

9/16

9/17

9/18

9/19

*For the most up to date list of tour cities, times and locations, visit GameStop.com

Going to Comic Con 2009?

Major Nelson — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:36:00 GMT

Headed to Comic Con this week? If so, Xbox has some great stuff lined up in San Diego. From finding out what’s next in the Halo franchise, to meeting everyone’s favorite Guild member there is something for everyone. Check out the full schedule and make plans to see all the action. Make sure you block off this Saturday from 1-2pm (SDCC Room 6DE) where I’ll be moderating the From Chainsaws to Renegade Spies: 101 Ways to Save the Universe Only on Xbox panel. Joining me onstage for the discussion will be Ubisoft’s Alexandre Parizeau (Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction), Valve’s Chet Faliszek (Left 4 Dead 2), BioWare’s Casey Hudson (Mass Effect 2), Bungie’s Paul Bertone (Halo 3: ODST), and Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski (Gears of War 2.) There is a lot going on over the next few days, so if you have the opportunity to attend it promises to be a good time. Don’t worry, I’ll have coverage of the event on Inside Xbox if you can’t make the trip (or your Super Hero costume is at the cleaners.) Watch my Twitter for the latest updates and I’ll see you there.

Back from Baghdad

Major Nelson — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:27:07 GMT

After a fantastic week week in Baghdad I am finally back in the office. If you missed it, I posted some photos of a few of the highlights. I want to thank all the members of the military that made the trip one that I will never forget. The Iroq Baghdad event was a huge success, and congratulations to all the winners. We’re in the process of editing the videos, so keep an eye on Inside Xbox starting in July when we’ll start to post them. In the meantime, I have some serious gaming to catch up on.

Bound for Baghdad

Major Nelson — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:21:00 GMT

I am a few hours away from stepping on a plane for the first leg of my journey to Baghdad, Iraq for the Iroq-Band competition taking place next week. I am honored to be asked to support the event, and I am looking forward to meeting many of service men and women that are Xbox LIVE members and blog readers who have emailed me countless tips to prepare for this experience. We’ll be recording a bunch of video for upcoming Inside Xbox segments which will air next month. With all of the travel and security involved in this trip, my online time (blog posts, twitter, twitpics and flickr) will be extremely limited. I will try to post updates to twitter if the opportunity arises, but I want to warn you that I’ll be unusually quiet (which I am sure won’t bother some of you) during my radio silence.

During my absence, my podcast co-host e will be keeping you updated on Xbox LIVE ‘stuff’ here on the blog, while litheon will continue to keep the site and chat online and running as usual.

Thanks and I’ll be back in about 10-days with what I am sure will be extraordinary stories to share with you.

Major/Larry

Live blog of the E3 2009 Xbox 360 Media Briefing

Major Nelson — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:44:00 GMT

We are just a few hours away from the annual Xbox 360 E3 Media Briefing. This invite only event will broadcast on G4 (check local listings) but if you’re not near your TV, I’ve got you covered with the live blog I’ll be hosting direct from backstage. We’ve also got the IRC chat which is open 24/7 for you game chatting needs. If you’re lucky enough to be in the audience, and you are Twittering, be sure you use the #xboxe3 tag so everyone can keep track of the news.

Win tickets to the Xbox E3 Media Briefing

Major Nelson — Tue, 26 May 2009 20:21:00 GMT

If you’re in the LA area and you want to attend the Xbox E3 Media Briefing on Monday, June 1st at The Galen Center on the campus of USC let me know.

I’ve got 100 tickets for winners (and guests) to giveaway. How do you win? Read on.

Who:	You and a guest
What:	The Xbox 360 Media briefing
Why:	To see the cool stuff we are announcing this year
Where:	The Galen Center on the campus of USC (directions)
When:	Monday, June 1st 2009. Briefing begins at 10:30am, but you’ll need to check in by 8:30am.
How:	Send me an email with the subject line ‘Ticket to the Xbox 360 E3 briefing’ Please include your first name, last name and your gamertag*

A couple of details:
Limit of two tickets per person (each winner will get two tickets, one for them and one for a guest)

Must be able to be in Los Angeles on the morning of June 1st by 8:30am.

If you win, you will get two tickets to the invite only Xbox Press briefing.
This does NOT include tickets to E3 show floor or any other related events.

Winner and guest must be over 18 since we’ll be showing M rated titles

I’ll choose 100 random winners from the emails I receive before this Thursday, May 28 at 12n PT. You’ll win two tickets..one for you and one for a friend. Everything else is up to you. If you get picked, I’ll send you an email with additional details and how to pick up your tickets by Friday at 12n PT.

Good luck and I’ll see you Monday.

*This information will only be used to contact you if you are chosen to win tickets. It will not be used for any other purpose.

Major is going to Rock in Iraq

Major Nelson — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:01:00 GMT

If you are in the US, I hope you are enjoying your Happy Memorial Day.
Today seems like an appropriate day to tell you about a trip that I will be taking after E3. I am headed to the middle east for the I-ROQ Baghdad event. It’s the second annual RockBand 2 tournament being held at Victory Base in Baghdad, Iraq. The competition, for service men and women on the base, has been underway since May 17th.I’ll be headed over to help host the finals with the base commanders where we will award the best RockBand 2 players in all of Baghdad.

I am very honored to be asked to participate, and very much looking forward to supporting the event and meeting the many blog readers and show listeners that I have heard from the area. For obvious security reasons, I won’t be able to share too much regarding my actual travel and location as I normally do when I cover events, but I’ll do what I can. While I am covert, e and litheon will be keeping an eye on things around here, so you’ll be in good hands. I will be bringing one of the Inside Xbox cameraman with me, so expect some good videos and photos once we return from what promises to be a very exciting journey.

You can find out more details about the event at www.iroqbaghdad.com or follow them on Twitter. I’ll share as many details as I can leading up to the event, but as you can imagine I’ll be pretty busy with E3 next week.

Join me at next weeks Gears of War event in Seattle

Major Nelson — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:15:00 GMT

If you are in the Seattle area next week, join me at a special Gears of War 2 celebration at The Experience Music Project|Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. We will be celebrating the sale of 5M copies of Gears of War 2, PLUS it will be the very first chance to get your hands on the one of the maps from the upcoming Gears of War 2: All Front Collection map pack.

Who:	All Gears of War fans
What:	Xbox LIVE presents First to Play: Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection
Where:	Experience Music Project \|Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, 325 5th Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98109 (Directions)
When:	Friday, May 15, 2009 from 8 p.m. - 11 p.m.
Why:	First hands-on gameplay with Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection, Gears of War creators panel and free access to the EMP\|SFM

I’ll be at the event, to hang out and play the maps and to moderate a panel with Dr. Michael Capps and Joshua Ortega.

More details on Xbox.com

How you can win a trip to E3 2009 (and a car)

Major Nelson — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:55:00 GMT

If you’re in the U.S., you’ll want to head over to Xbox.com where you can enter to win the chance to win a pretty amazing grand prize package:

A trip for two to LA to attend the Microsoft E3 Press briefing
$3000 cash (1k for travel and 2k for car taxes)
A home theater system that includes a Flat-Panel HDTV, Bose Home Theatre System, Xbox Elite Console, 120gb Zune, plus one year of Xbox LIVE Gold and Zune Pass. (valued at $4,800)
A 2010 Kia Soul Sport (valued at $18,000)

Before you enter, be sure your Xbox LIVE account information is correct since that is how we’ll contact you if you win! Good luck and maybe I’ll see you this year at E3.

Check your account information and enter the contest

Click here to add the Gamer Picture pack to your download queue.

Edit: ~~The gamer picture you need to download to enter will go live on Saturday the 18th.~~ The picture is now available for download.

In the Seattle area? Come by and meet the RE5 Executive Producer

Major Nelson — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:57:00 GMT

Jun Takeuchi, Executive Producer for Resident Evil 5 will be at the Redmond Washington Gamestop this Friday, March 13th to celebrate the release of Resident Evil 5.

Here are the details.

When: Friday, March 13th from 2:30pm-4:00pm
Where: Gamestop (#4444) in Redmond Town Center (16475 NE 74th Street, Redmond WA. Tel: +1425 895 8331)
Who: Jun Takeuchi, Resident Evil 5 Executive Producer
What: Meet RE5 producers and get your copy of the game autographed.

I’ll try to drop down around after 3p, so I’ll see you there!

Jimmy Kimmel at the Champions of Gaming event

Major Nelson — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:48:38 GMT

I posted this on my Twitter, but I ton of you asked for me to post it here so everyone can see it.

The Jimmy Kimmel show sent their correspondent Guillermo down to the Gillette event this week. Here is the segment that ran on the show last night.

Keep an eye on Inside Xbox for my video to go up later this weekend, but I can tell you right now it’s not as funny as this one. Have a great weekend everyone.