Big Bucks for Microsoft

Microsoft has announced their impressive Q1 earnings.

Fueled by Halo 3 and higher than expected Xbox 360 sales, the Entertainment and Devices Division of Microsoft had revenue grow more than 90 percent up to $1.9 billion. Xbox 360 console units also saw an increase of more than 90 percent driven by the August console price cut, the record-setting launch of Halo 3.

Microsoft is still touting their "greatest lineup of games in history", but at this point it's starting to become a little bit more believeable. Of interest to RPG fans, the Xbox 360 has a fall/winter lineup of games including Eternal Sonata, BioShock, Blue Dragon, Mass Effect, and Two Worlds. The hit action RPG Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is also now included with Xbox 360's along with Forza Motorsport 2.

To date 13.4 million Xbox 360 units have been sold.

Hellgate: London to Include Xfire

Xfire, announced today that their voice chat functionality will be included in Flagship Studios' highly anticipated upcoming PC RPG, Hellgate: London.

Xfire's peer-to-peer communication system allows gamers the ability to chat with fellow gamers without the hassle of a standalone voice server. It also allows gamers to log in to Xfire from Hellgate: London, enabling them to easily add fellow Hellgate gamers into a voice chat room where they can chat as they play.

"By integrating Xfire's voice chat feature into Hellgate: London, we are able to strengthen our online community and make it even easier for our players to connect together online," said Tyler Thompson, Technical Director of Flagship Studios. "The Xfire package will bolster the overall gaming experience for our users."

Xfire supports more than 800 of the most popular games worldwide and is eight million users strong.

Xbox BioShock Demo!

2K has announced that a demo for their "genetically enhanced" first-person shooter, BioShock, is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace.

Gamers who experience the Xbox demo will find themselves in the world of Rapture, an underwater utopia torn apart by civil war. Players will be able to experiment with weapons and plasmids, and get a sneak peek as the game's story begins to unfold.

A PC demo will also be available later this month. BioShock will be available exclusively on Xbox 36 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Games For Windows in North America on August 21, 2007 and in Europe beginning August 24, 2007.

So... go download the demo now.