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Its been nearly a week since the last post here at The Xbox Domain and a lot has happened since then, so here is a quick recap of what we’ve missed. There’s more to say for sure, but you’ll here about that at a later time. Hopefully you’ll like it. Until then, here’s a quick and dirty recap.

• The Tecmo and Itagaki saga has continued with a gag order being placed.
• The leaky ship that is Microsoft has bursted once again. Our friends at 360Sync have it covered.
• Two more Xbox Original titles (Guilty Gear X2 #Reload/The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning) have been released.
• Two more XBLA titles ( Sea Life Safari/Elements of Destruction) have been released.
• A Endwar beta video got leaked. (Oops!)
• Microsoft has joined the E for All Expo.

There’s more, but the show most go on so “they” say.

-William “thewilleffect” Bell-

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 Call of Duty 4
2 Halo 3
3 GTA IV
4 Guitar Hero III
5 Gears of War
6 Rock Band
7 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2
8 FIFA 08
9 Forza Motorsport 2
10 GRID Demo

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions)
1 Penny Arcade Episode 1
2 Buku Sudoku
3 Warlords
4 UNO
5 DOOM
6 Assault Heroes 2
7 N+
8 Brain Challenge
9 Worms
10 Ikaruga

The above arcade list is based on full versions purchased.

Original Xbox Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 Halo 2
2 Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3 Fable
4 Counter-Strike
5 Ninja Gaiden Black
6 Battlefield 2: MC
7 Splinter Cell Chaos
8 Gauntlet Seven Sorrows
9 Call of Duty 3
10 Conker: Live Reloaded

It was bound to happen, but this soon? The grand ole game that is GTA IV has fallen from its perch atop the top ten of Xbox Live games. In reality though, it hasn’t fallen to far, making it a good candidate for the “what have you done for me lately?” clause. As you may have noticed, Gears of War is still in the top ten after what, an eon now. Does GTA have the same staying power in its future?

[Via Major Nelson]

-William “thewilleffect” Bell-

Time to put down your copy of GTA IV, right? I know your still playing it. It’s okay. For that other game Halo 3, yeah, remember that one? Master Chief and his Arbiter friends are dying for you to get back into thier good graces by no other than a nice helping of sniper rounds. Yes, that’s right. Team Snipers is the meal of choice this weekend for teh Halo 3. So, pop in that disc again and gain your double EXP.

We all know how popular Team Snipers is whenever it makes it’s appearance well known all of a sudden during “regular” playlist, usually followed by some lightningly quick vetos. Atleast this time, you have some incentive to play it by choice. So why doesn’t this have it’s own playlist permanently so that some of us don’t have to be forced to play it Shishka? Anyhoo (ahhh, worstword EVER), time to get to the sniping.

[Via Bungie]

-William “thewilleffect” Bell-

Did your system just get the fabled Red Lights of Doom? Well, thank your lucky stars for this blog post which has some good advice for those wanting their systems back in reasonable time.

I won’t dwell on the details, which are boring. The long and the short of it is that Xbox customer support people are stupid at the main number, and useful at the escalated number. I have now discovered what I need to do in order to get future Xbox problems dealt with, and I thought this information would be useful to share with you.

1. Call 1–800–4–MY–XBOX.

2. Get a reference number for your problem as quickly as possible. You may need to say “I already did that” when they try to make you do the troubleshooting script, just to expedite the process.

3. Hang up and call the escalated support number, 866–506–3826.

4. Talk to someone who knows what they’re doing.

How did I come upon this process? Well, I tried calling the main number first. I talked to a complete and utter moron, who told me to call back and tell the voice system my problem was with Xbox Live (despite that my problem is independent of whether I even have an internet connection). I immediately tried the elevated support number next, but you need an extension or reference number for an existing problem to get past the initial voice recording.

Anyone have a feeling that Microsoft will be changing the escalated support number like… right now?

[Via Consumerist]

-Michael “Thrills Killa” Pacheco-

With the release of Grand Theft Auto IV inching its way ever closer (see countdown timer), the overload of information on the game just won’t stop. So, in spite of all of this, here’s a remixed trailer that gives a rather different feel than the official releases titled “Requiem”. One more video won’t hurt. I swear. No, really. I do.

[Thanks eezarthegreat]

-William “thewilleffect” Bell-

I’ve seen some good betrayals in my time, but this one is beyond ridiculous in all sense of the word. No preamble is needed for this. Only seeing is believing. It’s been making the rounds and it’s sure not to lose it’s amazement anytime soon. If you hate Halo, then so what. You’ll still love it.

[Via Kotaku]

-William “thewilleffect” Bell-

Next up for Halo 3 Double XP Weekends is “Living Dead”. This Double XP Weekend was to last between today and Monday as 2:00 am PST, but plans have changed thanks to a technical snafu as that “double” part of the deal isn’t exactly working right now. As explained by Bungie’s Shishka, the Double XP will have to wait until tomorrow morning instead. Until then have at it with your shotgun and the customary +1. Dang!

[Via Bungie.net]

-William “thewilleffect” Bell-

In a colossal move of unrelenting failure until now, it’s about time that this “newish” Inside Xbox feature, Pick Up & Play gets it due here. It’s been over looked by myself for far too long and I quite frankly can’t live with myself until I do something to kill my Pick Up & Play demons. Yes, like many, procrastination is my middle name.

If you haven’t seen Pick Up & Play on Inside Xbox you should be happy to know that your in for a treat. Nope, not the kind of treat you’ll be eating anytime soon, but a treat that’ll at least give you a few minutes of enjoyment every Monday on Inside Xbox, if your region of the world has access to this Xbox 360 dashboard feature. If so, you’ll be presented with recommendations of the “Pick Up & Play” variety, how novel, from Gamerscoreblog’s Nelson Rodriguez and Talking About Games’ Natalie Sousa( aka “the lady friend”).

Targeted at the not so “hardcore” segment of the Xbox market, this video series is great for those who just want recommendations about what they can play with each other without having to have a PhD in Gameology (who doesn’t have a PhD in Gameology anyway? ). Believe it or not, but the majority of gamers out there may not be reading this or other sites like this one, but it’s no reason to ignore them. Coming up on Inside Xbox every Monday, be sure to check it out if not for yourself but if only to get that other someone in your household to acknowledge the joys of which that are Xbox.

*Check after the break for the first 3 warmup accompanying video’s for Pick Up & Play. Don’t worry, the big bad GTA man won’t bite.

-William “thewilleffect” Bell-

Pick up & Play Warmup # 1

Pick up & Play warmup #2

Pick up & Play warmup #3

If you haven’t been to The Xbox Domain Forum and I know you haven’t, click on that little ole TXD 360 logo in that left side bar over there to head to the forum now. Once there you’ll see a Gamercard that’ll link you to the Mygamercard.net leaderboard page for The Xbox Domain. Check out the forum while your there. Signing up to chat about whatever you like would be beneficial as well, or blog about your on topics, it’s all fair game. You could just click here, but what’s the fun in that. On that page you’ll find a join leaderboard button. An account at Mygamercard.net is all there is needed to join the learderboard. The gamerscore shy need not worry, your probably well beyond my score. This is all about fun and to check out what everyone is up to. It’s all free, so there’s no excuse.

*Be there or be square, or something like that. If that’s even PC to say. Ah screw it. Be there or be square! HA!

-William “thewilleffect” Bell-