Kevin Pereira and Adam Sessler report all the highlights of Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference that occurred earlier today.

Joystiq reports that a “trusted source” relayed information on a new detailed “avatar” customization that Microsoft is readying - they look very much like a cross between the already existing Nintendo Mii and PlayStation Home custom avatars.

Here is the text from the above image which was submitted by X3F reader who took an independent survey by Intellisponse for Microsoft-

“Avatars” are digital personas available this holiday for all Xbox LIVE connected members and this spring for all new console owners.  ”Avatars” will be used in place of the gamer picture you have today and give you a much more lifelike, animated, and fully customizable persona for you to reflect who you are online.

In case you missed something from the supposed Intellisponse survey leak (via NeoGAF), here’s what was scavenged.

• ‘Avatars’ to be Microsoft’s answer to Miis and Home
• First video of Silicon Knight’s Crucible: The Evil Within
• Forza 3 to require 2 DVDs, ‘over 400 cars and 100 tracks’
• Guitar Hero 4 priced, new touch-sensitive guitar
• ‘Lips’ is Xbox 360 karaoke with wireless mics, store, DIY tracks
• Powers & Titans - multiplayer superhero game for 360, PS3, PC
• Spider-Man vs. Marvel Zombies creeping to Wii, 360, PS3
• Tony Hawk to get board peripheral on 360, PS3; new Spider-Man to use Wii Fit board
• Ultimate Band coming to 360, PS3, works with Rock Band instruments; new trailer for Wii
• Xbox Live getting massively competitive social games - Jeopardy, Millionaire, etc.

We should expect an official announcement from Microsoft at E3 which begins in one month, July 15th- July 17th at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

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Around the internet there is a rumor floating around that Microsoft may purchase Sega.  Now this is only a rumor, with no official word from Microsoft this is only speculation at this point.

So it’s no surprise that rumours are once again circulating that Microsoft may be about to make a move for SEGA (now SEGA Sammy Corp). It’s certainly not the first time we’ve heard about such a move - the last mention of it being back in early 2004 when it was speculated upon on many industry sites such as The Register and Gamespot. When you think about it, such a move would make perfect sense.

Microsoft are expected to make a ’shocking and desperate’ announcement at this years E3 - all we know is that it will be software related and nothing to do with hardware. It’s also no secret that Microsoft has had a very hard time in Japan with the 360 - SEGA might be the very company to help turn that around.

SEGA has a huge back catalogue of titles that could be relied upon to help strengthen the Redmond giant in the land of the rising sun. Titles like Sonic, Daytona, Virtua Fighter, Sega Rally and of course the Panzer Dragoon series all have a serious following over there and having those exclusive to the Xbox platform would be a sure fire boost to the Xbox over the next few years. 

SEGA Sammy shares have taken a battering over the last two years, dropping from a high of 2050,40yn down to 1020,00yn this week - that effectively halves the market value of the group making it an ideal takeover target.

If you were interested in getting your hands on Capcom’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix before it officially releases - you can!  Capcom is releasing a beta of the game, but there is a catch, you need to buy Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 on Xbox LIVE Arcade, 800 Microsoft Points, which will grant you access to the beta for the much anticipated Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.

Check out these screenshots from Rare’s Viva Piñata sequel rumored to be titled Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise.

Send me a msg over Xbox LIVE if your interested in joining Team Inhaled. InhaledCaffine

According to the NPD figures which were released today, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has officially sold over 9 Million copies worldwide since it’s release!

In addition, the Variety Map Pack we recently released on Xbox Live and soon to be released on PS3 in a week; has broke Xbox Live Marketplace records pulling down over 1 Million downloads within it’s first 9 days. Not to mention pulling down Xbox Live Marketplace in the process when it launched.

Some cool numbers we pulled recently to see just how much gameplay that actually is, shows that Xbox LIVE members played more than 30 million sessions and logged over 30 million hours of gameplay!! We’re talking 1.9 billion minutes logged in the first 9 days!!

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I still wish I hadn’t let someone borrow my copy of Soul Caliber for Dreamcast as it was one of my favorite games for the system… Oh well, later this year, more specifically July 29th, Namco will be releasing Soul Calibur via Xbox Live Arcade - 800MS points ($10.00US) the download will be large since the original was over 400mb in size, should make it the largest XBLA title and maybe a good reason to get a larger hard drive for my 360.

 
Earlier today Namco Bandai announced a release date for SCIV, but as it turns out, that wasn’t the only Soul Calibur news in store for the day. Namco has now revealed that the original Soul Calibur will appear as a downloadable title on Xbox Live Arcade later this year.

While we’re currently light on exact details about this port, Namco has confirmed that every character and mode from the Dreamcast game will be made available, and leaderboards will be added. In light of Soul Calibur IV’s release — likely not long before or after Soul Calibur arrives on Live Arcade — it’s unclear if the original will be upgraded with online play, although not doing so would be out of line with most other XBLA releases.

Not only will Soul Calibur on XBLA present what is likely to be one of the biggest games (in terms of download size) available on the service thus far, it’s also one of the most recent. As Soul Calibur first appeared on the Dreamcast, it is, for all intents and purposes, a game from last-gen. But unlike the last-gen Xbox Originals, this release should feature all the upgrades we’ve come to expect with a Live Arcade title.

Here is the original intro from the Dreamcast version of Soul Calibur.

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This information was just posted by Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling at IAMfourzerotwo:

Despite what the internet might tell you (including some “official” sources), the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare variety map pack has NOT been delayed until the 10th. As of right now we’re pushing certification for an on-time release for April 3rd or 4th. As of right now though, I’m being told that it’s a good chance it will be released worldwide (except for Japan) tomorrow night / early-Friday morning.

With that said, we also have a new video up on Gametrailers that show off the new maps in action, so check it out above.

For those of you asking when you should take off work, I’d take off Friday, as it looks like they should be available late Thursday night / early Friday morning, which means Friday you should be able to play all day. Also, those of you who have tokens already (either from Game of the Year edition or won them at the Gamestop event we held) you’ll be able to use them as soon as the Map packs are available on Xbox Live.

Update for those of you who bought the Game of the Year Editions:

I see a lot of questions for those of you who have the Game of the Year Editions and visited http://gameoftheyear.callofduty.com/ where all the April 10th delay date rumors spawned from. However, I wanted to let you know that I am currently working to get that changed so that it reflects the correct release date of the maps (April 4th) as well as allows users who buy the GOTY edition to redeem their code for a token as soon as the maps are available (on April 4th) instead of April 10th. I hope that clears up any confusion and I will keep you updated if anything changes, but I wanted to let you know I’m working to make sure you’re taken care of.

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[UPDATE] Just to confirm CoD4 maps are available for download. I personally downloaded the Variety Pack at 9am (PST) - 800 MS Points and 446mb download took less than 5 minutes.

Jesse McPherson was out of town when a thief broke into his home, stole his laptop, Xbox 360 & flat panel he had mounted on his wall. The following video is the Fox News story documenting the events that occurred after the victim attempted to get help from police and decided to do a bit of investigative work on his own and share his findings with the world via his website. Behold the power of the internet.

For more about this story you should visit his website, McFearsome.