12 Months Xbox LIVE Gold Membership | £25.64 | CDKeys

The listed price at the moment is £26.99 (which is still seriously awesome), but if you click the 'Like' button near the top (or here), you'll be taken to CDKeys' Facebook page where you'll receive a 5% off voucher (ours at the time of writing is CDK6767) to drop the price.

Please note, you're paying for a digital code, not a boxed card. We preach caution with sites like this, but we've never had any issue with CDKeys in the past, usually receiving codes within an hour (often immediately), and the buyer protection offered through Paypal is certainly welcome.

Shoutout to TimJWL @ HUKD for bringing this to our attention.

Q-Games' studio president Dylan Cuthbert has cast his eye forward in a new interview to the next console generation, and the Pixeljunk developer is hoping that "core gaming" will make a resurgence -- that is to say innovative games that can sell "for more than a dollar".

According to Epic Games' VP Mark Rein, Microsoft and Sony are informing developers that they're "going heavily" in on free-to-play and in-app purchasing models when it comes to their next-gen consoles.

I'm confused, and I'm blaming Ballmer.

Microsoft could have stopped all of this silliness once and for all had they simply come out and, you know, made an official announcement. As it is, we once again have to rely on hearsay and anonymous reports, the latest of which suggests that, contrary to previous rumours, the next Xbox won't require an always-online connection.

Yay! Maybe. Yaybe.

This week on the Game Buzz, we take a look at the suspiciously co-incidental convergence of Curiosity's end with Microsoft's upcoming Xbox reveal; we chat about the new GTA V info and discuss the unveiling of Call of Duty: Ghosts; we return once more to Nintendo's Wii U woes and their new message to existing Wii owners; and finally we look at the class-action lawsuit being brought against Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Game Buzz | Episode 30 - Ghosts. Recorded 3rd May, 2013.

Parental Advisory: We've tried to keep it as conversational and informal as possible, and you should be warned that there may be some instances of strong language.

Click the banner or the title link above to play the podcast, or right click and select 'Save Link As' to download the file onto your hard drive.

Want more? Check out the rest of our PWNCAST posts onsite, hit us up on iTunes, or subscribe to the PWNCAST Feed here.

Peter Molyneux, the man who used to work for Microsoft and then managed to escape to make a multi-layered cube, has hinted that he  might be making some sort of appearance at Microsoft's planned Xbox reveal event on May 21st.

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition is coming to a UK store near you this June as Mojang and Microsoft have announced that the Minecraft experience will soon be available to buy in-store on disc across the UK, exclusively for Xbox 360.

Well, we called it back when Activision leapt onto the stage with Sony at the PS4 presser. This morning's burblings from the rumour mill suggest that EA and Respawn Entertainment's upcoming shooter might well be coming exclusively to the Xbox 360 and its as-yet unannounced successor.

Following a concept reveal last year, Microsoft are set to explain more about IllumiRoom: a projector that turns your entire room into a gaming space by projecting backgrounds and effects onto the walls and ceiling. While we wait for a full explanation at tomorrow's CHI 2013 event in Paris, a new video has broken cover, explaining how the work-in-progress could be used with a "next-generation gaming console."

Since Microsoft are set to reveal a next-generation gaming console on May 21st, is IllumiRoom destined to become an actual product rather than just an interesting thought experiment in the depths of the Redmond R&D skunkworks? We'll find out soon enough.

This week, we deal with Microsoft's announcement about their pending announcement; we return to Nintendo's continuing woes, but acknowledge that at least they're starting to admit their mistakes; and we take a gander at the final acquisitions from THQ's demise -- specifically Gearbox's purchase of the Homeworld IP, and Nordic's gargantuan haul.

Oh yes, and then there's the matter of the omnishambles that is SimCity 2.0.

Game Buzz | Episode 29 - Hope and Hype. Recorded 25th April, 2013.

Parental Advisory: We've tried to keep it as conversational and informal as possible, and you should be warned that there may be some instances of strong language.

Click the banner or the title link above to play the podcast, or right click and select 'Save Link As' to download the file onto your hard drive.

Want more? Check out the rest of our PWNCAST posts onsite, hit us up on iTunes, or subscribe to the PWNCAST Feed here.

"The Beginning Of A New Generation Of Games, TV & Entertainment"

After a truly awkward couple of months, Microsoft has finally set a date to reveal the Xbox 360's successor. It looks like Paul Thurrott was right on the money.

All praise the shining golden calf of Ballmer! Microsoft is bestowing free Xbox Live Gold weekend upon North America, Latin America and Japan.

Microsoft is getting a bad rap lately. The rumour mill is bleeding contentious streams of whispers, employees are putting the feet in the proverbial across social networks, and now a few indies have come out to slam Microsoft's practices regarding smaller devs, and praise those of its competitor.

But not James Silva.

It's another day, but wait! There's been no fresh rumour regarding Durango! Surely not?!

Oh, wait, no... there's one.

Bloomberg has a new report, and it suggests that the new console from Microsoft won't be compatible with Xbox 360 discs.

Spry Fox CCO, and former game designer at Microsoft, Daniel Cook has penned an editorial reflecting on his time at the company in "the era right before Kinect", criticising Microsoft for pushing the "gamers as bros" sub-culture that emphasises violence and machismo.

Yusuf Mehdi, who has an incredibly long job title that names him as the corporate vice president of marketing, strategy and business for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft has delivered an official blog post announcing the sale of Microsoft's leading IPTV service, Mediaroom, to Ericsson.

According to Mehdi, this "mutually beneficial" act will free up Microsoft to focus all of their attention on making Xbox console "the premium entertainment service that delivers all the games and entertainment consumers want".

Entertainment-Centric Model Cancelled

To fill the void left by Microsoft's deafening next-gen silence, we've got some more rumours to discuss regarding the Xbox 360's successor. Prolific tech blogger Paul Thurrott posits that Microsoft are set to finally announce concrete details next month, and plan to release in time for Christmas.

Details below. Great big pinch of salt at the ready, lads and lasses.

This week, we look at the closure of LucasArts and wonder if this is actually the best thing that could have happened to the ailing studio; we discuss the controversial breakthrough video games made with two composers reaching the top five in Classic FM's Hall of Fame; we applaud id Software's decision to restart Doom 4's development after not being happy with the current project; we chat briefly about the ASA involvement with the Aliens fiasco; and we breeze through this week's next-gen tidbits, including Adam Orth's naive remarks about always-online hardware.

Game Buzz | Episode 26 - #YOLO. Recorded 5th April, 2013.

Parental Advisory: We've tried to keep it as conversational and informal as possible, and you should be warned that there may be some instances of strong language.

Click the banner or the title link above to play the podcast, or right click and select 'Save Link As' to download the file onto your hard drive.

Want more? Check out the rest of our PWNCAST posts onsite, hit us up on iTunes, or subscribe to the PWNCAST Feed here.

Microsoft have released a statement responding to "what was said yesterday", in reference to the tweets made by Microsoft Studios' creative director, Adam Orth.

Orth had expressed some surprise at the ongoing controversy surrounding always-online requirements for hardware.

"Sorry, I don’t get the drama around having an ‘always on’ console,” Orth said on Twitter. “Every device now is ‘always on’. That’s the world we live in. #dealwithit.”

Microsoft have distanced themselves from the comments, whilst spectacularly failing to provide any clarity of their own.

"It's Going To Be Connected. It's Going To Be Social"

According to Ubisoft, Microsoft's next-gen console will be fairly similar to the PS4 in terms of hardware, features and social connectivity.