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.

[source]

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!!

[source]

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.

[source]

[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.

VG Cats latest comic illustrates the current state of online gaming on Wii, 360 and PS3 consoles.

What is Grifball? Well, if you play Halo 3 and use Xbox Live it’s is a custom game type, kinda like a hybrid of hockey & football - sort of… anyways the guys from Red vs. Blue present this nice and informative video tutorial on how to play.

Here are the rules found at the Grifball Official website:

Grifball is an extremely fast paced sport game type that’s played on an open court between two teams of four players. Each team has a goal and each player carries a gravity hammer and an energy sword. In the center of the arena is a single ball that can be picked up by anyone on the field. Each match consists of 5 rounds, with each round ending when someone slams the ball into their opponent’s goal. The team with the most goals wins.

It’s a very simple game by design, but it’s an enormous amount of non-stop action. At any point in time, you are either on defense with your 3 teammates guarding your goal or you are on offense as the ball carrier with three blockers. In a second, the game can turn and you have to be ready to seamlessly change roles.

Scheduled for November 2008 release on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console. The announcement was made today at GDC2008 along with the debut of the following teaser trailer.

The free XBOX Live Arcade game promised by Microsoft as compensation for the issues Xbox LIVE service was experiencing over the past month has been announced.

Undertow (normally 800 Microsoft Points) will be available to download by XBOX Live Gold and Silver members from Wednesday 23rd January at 10:00 2008 till Sunday 28th January 2008 at 08:00 (Pacific Standard Time Zone) for free.

Here is the official letter from Microsoft:

An Open Letter from Marc Whitten about Xbox LIVE this Holiday
Published January 3, 2008

Dear Xbox LIVE Members:

During this past holiday season you helped us break a number of Xbox LIVE records. This included our largest sign-up of new members to Xbox LIVE in our 5 year history and just yesterday you broke the record for the single biggest day of concurrent members ever on the service.

As a result of this massive increase in usage we know that some of you experienced intermittent Xbox LIVE issues over the holiday break. While the service was not completely offline at any given time, we are disappointed in our performance. I would like to take this moment to thank each and every one of you for your patience and understanding as our team has worked around the clock to return the service to a stable state.

At the same time we would like to offer a token of our appreciation to all of you in celebration of record success for the service. And as a thank you for your loyalty during this holiday period, we will be offering all of our Xbox LIVE members around the world access to a full Xbox LIVE Arcade game that will be available to download free of charge. In the coming weeks we will be sharing the specific details of this offer with you.

Thank you again for helping make Xbox LIVE everything that it is today!

Sincerely,

Marc Whitten
General Manager, Xbox LIVE
Gamertag: Notwen

Updated January 18, 2008

We’re pleased to announce that from 2:00 a.m. PST Wednesday, January 23, 2008 through 11:59 p.m. PST, Sunday, January 27, 2008 you can download the full version of the recent Xbox LIVE Arcade game, Undertow free of charge.

Developed by Chair Entertainment Group, Undertow is one of the highest-rated and best looking games available on Arcade. Undertow redefines aquatic based shooters through a mix of high-definition graphics, intuitive controls and multiple modes of game play action. The game features a full story driven-single player campaign, on and offline co-op, and multiplayer for 2-16 players over Xbox LIVE for Gold subscribers. Players battle for control of the oceans as one of three selectable races, each with four unique, upgradeable units.

Major Nelson announced at his blog that users who already purchased the game should contact Xbox Live support (800-4MY-XBOX), and they’ll be “taken care of.”

[source]

Check out what game designer Philippe Therien has to say about the new rewards system for the upcoming Rainbow Six Vegas 2.